Uddhav Thackeray's "Cataract" Swipe At Election Commission

India attained independence after the sacrifices of freedom fighters, and not by sprinkling "Gomutra" (cow urine), former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday.

Addressing a public meeting, here in Ratnagiri, Uddhav Thackeray said, "Did our country attain independence by sprinkling 'gomutra' (cow urine)? Did this happen that cow urine was sprinkled and we got freedom? This was not the case, freedom fighters sacrificed their lives then we got independence."

He also hit out at the Election Commission of India over the decision of allotting 'Shiv Sena' name and 'Bow and Arrow' symbol to the Shinde faction.

"The Election Commission has taken away Shiv Sena's name and symbol, but it can't take away the party from us. Tell the EC that if they don't have cataract then come and see who is the real Shiv Sena. The party Shiv Sena was not founded by the father of the EC, it was founded by my father," he said.

He accused the Shinde faction of "stealing" the 'Bow and Arrow' symbol.

"People should keep one thing in mind those who have stolen our 'Bow-and-Arrow' and then come to seek votes are thieves. You bring the 'Bow and Arrow', I will bring the torch. I will accept whatever the public decides. It is not the EC that will decide whether I want it or not," he said.

He further added saying, "Kapil Sibal is fighting our case and he is worried for us. While arguing in the Supreme Court, he said that he is not worried about winning or losing the case, instead, he is worried about whether Democracy and Constitution will survive in the country or not."

Uddhav Thackeray also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of "stealing" figures like Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel and Bala Saheb Thackeray.

"Sardar Patel banned RSS, but they (BJP) stole the name of Sardar Patel. Similarly, they stole Subhash Chandra Bose and did the same with Bala Saheb Thackeray. I challenge them to ask for votes in PM Modi's name and not in the name of Shiv Sena and without Bala Saheb's photo," he said.

Earlier on February 17, in a major setback to the Uddhav Thackery faction of Shiv Sena, the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotted the party name "Shiv Sena" and the symbol "Bow and Arrow" to the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

While the Shinde faction welcomed the decision of being recognized as the real Shiv Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray faction said they will move the Supreme Court.

The Commission observed in its order that the current constitution of the Shiv Sena party is undemocratic and has been "mutilated to undemocratically appoint people from a coterie as office bearers without any election at all". It said such party structures fail to inspire confidence.

The poll panel advised all political parties to reflect democratic ethos and principles of inner party democracy and regularly disclose on their respective websites aspects of their inner party functioning, such as organisational details, holding of elections, the copy of the Constitution and list of office bearers.

"The constitution of political parties ought to provide for free, fair and transparent elections to the posts of office bearers and a further free and fair procedure for the resolution of internal disputes. These procedures ought to be difficult to amend and should be amendable only after ensuring larger support of the organisational members for the same," the ECI said.

Last month, both the Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde and former CM Uddhav Thackeray-led factions of the Shiv Sena submitted their written statements in support of their claims over the party name and symbol to the Election Commission.

The ECI had frozen the bow and arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena and had allotted the 'Two Swords and Shield symbol' to the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and the 'flaming torch' (mashaal) election symbol was allotted to the Uddhav Thackeray faction for the bypoll in Andheri East assembly constituency in November last year.

Shiv Sena had seen a split last year forcing Uddhav Thackeray to resign as Chief Minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Shinde later joined hands with BJP to form a government in the state.

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