"It's Bogus, Have Lost Trust In It": Uddhav Thackeray Attacks Poll Body

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray today attacked the Election Commission for declaring the party faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena and allotting it the 'bow and arrow' symbol.

Mr Thackeray said he no longer had trust in the top poll body, adding it should be called "Election Chuna Lagao Aayog". "Chuna lagana" is street lingo for defrauding somebody.

"The Election Commission is bogus. It should be called the Election Chuna Lagao Aayog. We have lost trust in it," Mr Thackeray said at a party event on the occasion of Marathi Language Day.

He claimed the Election Commission should not have given its decision on the party name and symbol when hearings connected to it were underway in the Supreme Court.

The former CM said the EC had given a symbol each to Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party factions headed by party founder late Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag and Paswan's brother Pashupati Kumar Paras in a dispute similar to the one in the Sena.

However, both the factions are quiet over it as they are with the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party, Mr Thackeray alleged.

He claimed parties had begun uniting against the BJP and referred to his meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his conversations with West Bengal and Bihar CMs Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar, respectively.

He said if the opposition does not come together against the BJP, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls could be the last in the country.

Attacking Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his supporters, Thackeray said they were "creepers" who had started thinking of themselves as the host tree.

Those who don't have values resort to stealing, Mr Thackeray said in a swipe at the Shinde faction, though he did not name anybody.

He dared Mr Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party to contest polls.

Mr Shinde had rebelled against Thackeray in June last year, which split the Shiv Sena and brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government also comprising the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

Mr Shinde became CM with the support of the BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)