Dissolve Election Commission: Uddhav Thackeray

Days after the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena was legitimised, a rattled Uddhav Thackeray - the son of the saffron party’s founder Balasaheb Thackeray - on Monday demanded that the Election Commission be dissolved and the heads of the poll body should be elected and not just appointed by whims and fancies.

Thackeray’s media briefing came after the Supreme Court, earlier in the day, refused to entertain an oral mentioning made by his faction to urgently list its plea challenging the EC decision. “The Election Commission’s order is wrong. Supreme Court is the last ray of hope,” Thackeray said. “There is not a single instance where the party name and symbol were directly given to one faction," Thackeray said.

"What was the need for the EC to give this decision in a hurry?" the former Maharashtra chief minister said. “Even if the other faction took our name and symbol, they can't take our Thackeray name. I was lucky to be born to the family of Balasaheb Thackeray,” he said.

Accusing the BJP of destroying democracy with the help of democratic institutions, Thackeray said, “What the BJP did with us today, they can do it with anyone. If this continues, after 2024, there won't be any democracy or election in the country," he said.

Also read: Top developments in Thackeray-Shinde row after EC order

He said he had received calls in support from Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and many other leaders. Thackeray said he had never left Hindutva, though he was accused of doing so when he ended his decades-old alliance with the BJP in 2019. Thackeray said that during the Assembly bypoll in Andheri, his party candidate had used the name given by the Election Commission.

The other faction didn't even have the courage of fighting that bypoll, he added. Asked about reports of his camp transferring funds from Shiv Sena's official bank accounts, Thackeray said, “The EC has no right to speak on what happens to the party funds and it cannot act like a sultan. Its role is limited only to holding fair elections and ensuring internal democracy within a political party.” The poll panel will attract a criminal case, if it dabbles in party funds distribution, he said.

Asked about the Shinde faction taking over various properties of Shiv Sena, he said, “I dare them to stop using the name of my father (late Balasaheb Thackeray) and his photo. Let him put photo of his father and then seek votes.” Thackeray said the Commission has already recognised his camp with a separate name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and also given it flaming torch as symbol.

“This means the EC had recognised our separate existence already,” he said.

Thackeray met his close associates at Shiv Sena Bhavan on Monday. Party leaders Sanjay Raut, Subhash Desai, Anil Desai and Anil Parab, were present. Thackeray also invited several district level leaders of his camp to discuss future course of action. The Election Commission on Friday recognised the Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered allocation of the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it, in the process delivering a big blow to Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the outfit in 1966.

The EC allowed the Thackeray faction to retain the name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the ‘flaming torch’ poll symbol, given to it in an interim order in October last year, till the conclusion of the upcoming Assembly bypolls in the state. Uddhav Thackeray had on Sunday said all political parties need to open their eyes and remain cautious in the wake of the Election Commission's decision of recognising the faction led by CM Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena.