Uddhav Thackeray said he will contact "Shiv Sainik camps" to keep party workers' morale high
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is working to keep the morale high of party workers loyal to him by focussing on more activity at "Shiv Sainik" camps.
The Shiv Sena has a large network of camps across the state, which Mr Thackeray will contact afresh to start a "Shiv Shakti Abhiyan", or an exercise to strengthen the party's workers on the ground.
This activity, apart from going to the Supreme Court, is among Mr Thackeray's first steps to consolidate whatever is left of the Shiv Sena with him after the Election Commission held that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's group has the right to use the Shiv Sena name and the party's bow-and-arrow election symbol.
For now, Mr Thackeray reluctantly keeps the name "Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray" and the "flaming torch" symbol.
"It is the most difficult time for Shiv Sena. It is the same as when Balasaheb Thackeray died. We will fight back in the court and on the streets. We are working on strategies. They (Team Eknath Shinde) are trying to finish the Shiv Sena by giving supari (contract)," Mr Thackeray told reporters at the Sena Bhavan in Mumbai today.
"The Shiv Sena won't lick the BJP's feet," said Mr Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena.
He has also invited Sena district leaders loyal to him to discuss plans for taking on Team Eknath Shinde.
Sena leaders close to Mr Thackeray including Sanjay Raut, Subhash Desai, Anil Desai and Anil Parab attended the meeting today.
The Supreme Court is yet to give its verdict on a request by Team Thackeray to disqualify 16 Sena MLAs among the ones who revolted against him last year, yet the Election Commission's order on the party name and symbol came, which is "unfair", the former Chief Minister said on Friday last when the election body announced its decision.
Mr Shinde called the Election Commission's decision to recognise his faction as the real Shiv Sena a victory of truth and people. He said numbers matter in a democracy and he has them. "This is a victory of truth and people as well as blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray. I thank Election Commission. Majority counts in democracy," Mr Shinde said.
In a 78-page order on the protracted battle for control of the Shiv Sena, the Election Commission said Mr Shinde, who became Chief Minister after a revolt in June last year, was supported by MLAs with 76 per cent of the party's winning votes in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls.