Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray today blamed the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena as the Election Commission froze the party name and symbol for now. The poll panel decision means the Sena faction led by Aaditya's father Uddhav Thackeray — who technically remained party president despite Eknath Shinde replacing him as chief minister four months ago — also cannot use the bow-and-arrow symbol or the party name.
This comes ahead of the November 3 assembly bypoll to Andheri East segment.
In his tweet — he posted it, deleted it, and then posted it again within minutes — Aaditya Thackeray called Eknath Shinde and his supporters "khokhewala", Marathi slang for "those who got crores of rupees", an allegation over their mutiny and alliance with the BJP.
His tweet in Marathi said: "Traitors who got crores have done the vile and shameless act of getting the name and symbol of Shiv Sena frozen. People of Maharashtra will not tolerate this. We will fight and win. We are on the side of truth. Truth only wins."
Team Thackeray had yesterday told the commission that since Eknath Shinde and his supporting MLAs had "left the party voluntarily", they could not claim the name and symbol.
The Shinde faction had challenged Team Thackeray's right over the party that Uddhav Thackeray's father Bal Thackeray had founded five decades ago.
Today, the photo that Aaditya Thackeray shared in his tweet — Bal Thackeray's face as background as son Uddhav makes a speech — may also seen as a message.
The Shinde faction has been claiming Bal Thackeray's "true legacy of Hindutva" and citing that as the reason why it decided to break away and "resume the Sena's natural alliance with the BJP".
The freeze may be seen as a setback to Team Thackeray which had yesterday submitted a datasheet to the poll panel and claimed a massive majority within the party units — a factor in the final decision on who gets the party, or if both have to choose new names and symbols.
In the multi-front battle — within party units, at the poll panel, and the Supreme Court — the Thackeray faction had recently scored a big win when it got the party's traditional venue, Mumbai's Shivaji Park, for an annual rally.
Eknath Shinde held his own version of it at another ground, also using Bal Thackeray's portrait as background.
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