Mumbai: In yet another blow to Shiv Sena (UBT) faction head Uddhav Thackeray, Bhushan Desai, the son of his trusted aide and former industries minister Subhash Desai, joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction on Monday. Desai joined the Shinde faction in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several other Shiv Sena leaders.


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Desai joined the Shinde faction just days ahead of the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. His switching the camp is being seen as a major development in the political circles of Maharashtra. It may be noted that Subhash has been a close confidant of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for over five decades and served as the Minister of Industries and Mines during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.


The development is also being seen as a big setback for Uddhav Thackeray, days after the former Maharashtra chief minister lost the Shiv Sena name and its election symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction after the Election Commission declared the latter as the "real Shiv Sena".


On his joining the Shinde camp, Bhushan Desai told media persons that he was "impressed by the functioning style of CM Shinde" and after discussing it with his father, he decided to join the party. "I had made up my mind to join the Shiv Sena which runs on the ideals of the late Hindu HridaySamrat Balasaheb Thackeraya I shall take up whatever responsibility the party gives me," he said. Shinde and other senior leaders lauded Bhushan Desai for his move, offering him a party flag and other symbols marking his entry to the Shiv Sena.


However, reacting to the development, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said Bhushan was not with the Uddhav faction. “Subhash Desai is our big leader. we follow his guidance, his son was not with us. Whoever wants to go to the washing machine should go," he added.


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, Uddhav Thackeray approached the Supreme Court, which later refused to stay the EC order.


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.