Uddhav Thackeray loses his name, the Shiv-Sena symbol introduced by his father
Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have clashed over party identity after the former’s mutiny last year when he walked away with most of the party’s MPs with the help of the BJP.
Mumbai: Almost eight months after the coup in Shiv Sena, Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde’s requests for party name and bow and arrow symbol were approved by the Electoral Commission, a major obstacle for ex-Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
In a 78-page resolution on the protracted struggle for control of the organization, the committee noted that Mr Shinde, who became prime minister after the mutiny, was backed by the MP with 76% of the winning vote in the party during parliamentary polls on the assembly from Maharashtra 2019.
This allowed the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, to retain the ‘flaming torch’ electoral symbol bestowed last year.
Electoral Commission
also considered the Shiv Sena Party’s 2018 constitutional amendments “undemocratic” because they centralized party control and generally required all parties to ensure that their constitutions allow for free elections, fair and transparent party positions.
“Thank you electoral commission. In a democracy, the majority counts. This is the victory of the heir of Balasaheb [Thackeraya]. Ours is the real Shiv Sena,” Shinde said as his supporters set off firecrackers in Mumbai and other parts of Stan.
Sources said that Shinde’s next step would be to call a party election to appoint him party leader.
Uddhav Thackeray called the electoral commission a “murder of democracy” and a “theft” and condemned Shinde as “once a traitor, always a traitor”.
At a press conference, he said he was urging the electoral body to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision and that “in the future, anyone can buy an MP or MPs and become prime minister or prime minister”.
“We will fight, we will not lose hope. The truth will prevail one day,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court is “the last hope.”
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP from Thackeray’s team, said: “That was to be expected.We don’t trust the electoral commission.”
In response to the attack, Mr Shinde said Mr Thackeray had “mistakenly” labeled the dissidents as “thieves” and that the former prime minister needed to “inspect himself”.
Following his rebellion in June, when Eknath Shinde, with the help of the BJP, walked out with most of the party’s MPs and ushered in the final overthrow of Uddhava Thackeray’s state government, the two sides clashed over the identity of the game. The Electoral Commission of later froze Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol, giving Eknath Shinde’s faction the “two swords and a shield” symbol and Uddhav Thackeray’s camp the “flaming torch” symbol.
Last November, Uddhav Thackeray filed a motion with the Delhi High Court to overturn the Electoral Commission’s decision. However, the appeal was dismissed by the court.
Last month, factions led by Mr Shinde and Mr Thackay submitted written submissions to the electoral body supporting their claims to the party’s name and symbol.