"Election Commission Should Be Dissolved": Uddhav Thackeray On Sena Order

Uddhav Thackeray today said the Election Commission "should be dissolved" and election commissioners should be elected by the people, two days after losing the name and symbol of the Shiv Sena, the party founded by his father Bal Thackeray.

"There is not a single instance where the party name and symbol were directly given to one faction," said the former Maharashtra Chief Minister, hours after challenging the Election Commission's decision in the Supreme Court.

"What was the need to give this decision in a hurry?" he questioned.

"I want to ask you why are you all here?  I don't have anything with me, everything has been stolen from me, why are you still here? 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. They can't get it even with Delhi's help," Mr Thackeray told reporters.

He accused the BJP of destroying democracy with the help of democratic institutions. He said he had received calls in support from Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar "and many others".

"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.

Mr Thackeray also asserted that he had never left Hindutva, though he was accused of doing so when he ended his decades-old alliance with the BJP in 2019.

"I never left Hindutva, whoever is a Hindu should speak up now."

Mr Thackeray said the Election Commission should have waited for the Supreme Court verdict on the disqualification of MLAs.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition in Maharashtra lost power after a coup in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde, who went on to form a new government with the BJP in June.

Since then, the factions led by Mr Thackeray and Eknath Shinde have been fighting for recognition as the "real Shiv Sena".

The Supreme Court is hearing petitions that question the foundation of the Shinde government as Mr Shinde and 15 other rebels had been disqualified.

The Election Commission said the Shinde faction has the support of two-thirds of the members, as required by the anti-defection law.

"The question is, did the two-thirds of MLAs go together? The answer is no. They went one by one. Earlier 16 MLAs went and then others followed."

Mr Thackeray said during recent bypolls in Andheri, his party candidate had used a name given by the Election Commission. "We used Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and we won the elections. That time Shinde didn't even have the courage of fighting the elections," he said.

"During Indira Gandhi, there was syndicate and indicate. Even at that time new symbols were given before they (Congress) got the symbol of the hand.  Mulayam Singh Yadav never went to court, that's why the Samajwadi Party went to Akhilesh Yadav. There's not a single instance where it was directly given to one faction."