EC is BJP's slave: Uddhav Thackeray slams central agency

Uddhav Thackeray has slammed the EC after ordering the verdict on the party name "Shiv Sena" and the party symbol "Bow and Arrow"

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday attacked the Election Commission calling the central agency "slaves" of the BJP.

His outburst comes a day after the Election Commission recognized the rival faction led by Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena. And it comes at a time when BMC polls are long due.

Speaking outside his house 'Matoshree', Uddhav Thackeray asked his loyal supporters to prepare for the elections. He asked them to teach a lesson to the "thief" who stole the party's bow and arrow' symbol, a reference to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

He then claimed that the BJP should know that they cannot finish off Shiv Sena and accused the EC of becoming their "slaves" after it deprived Uddhav of the control of the party founded by his father late Bal Thackeray in 1966

Maha Shivratri fell on Saturday and Shiv Jayanti or birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was on Sunday, and this time was chosen "to rob the Shiv Sena's name and symbol", Thackeray said. "The thief has hurled a stone at a beehive. But he has not experienced the sting of honeybees," Thackeray said.

Chief Minister Shinde would not be able to carry off the "stolen bow and arrow" and will collapse like the mythological demon king Ravana who could not lift the Shiv Dhanush, he said.

Never before the EC had awarded the symbol and party name to one faction in such disputes and the symbol was always put under a freeze in such situations, Thackeray said. "But the PM's slaves have done it now," he alleged.

The present election commissioner may become the governor of a state after retirement, Thackeray claimed. "People will decide whom the Shiv Sena belongs," he said. Thackeray further said Prime Minister Modi needed to "wear Balasaheb Thackeray's mask" to come to Maharashtra. "The thief wants the Thackeray name, Balasaheb's photo but not the Shiv Sena family," he said, in an apparent reference to Shinde.

People understand the difference between those who wear masks and the real people, he said. Later, Thackeray chaired a meeting of party leaders loyal to him. He asked them to tour every district and galvanise the cadre, MLC Sachin Ahir told reporters.

Last June, Shinde launched a rebellion against the party. Majority of MLAs sided with him, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Later, Shinde was sworn in as the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, while BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM.

The Election Commission of India on Friday ordered that the party name "Shiv Sena" and the party symbol "Bow and Arrow" will be retained by the Eknath Shinde faction.

The Commission said MLAs backing Eknath Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly.

With inputs from PTI