`Hand that dares to touch the saffron..`: Uddhav Thackeray retaliates to Eknath Shinde`s claim on Shiv Sena symbol

Uddhav Thackeray`s Shiv Sena faction sought four weeks from the Election Commission to submit documents to support their claim of the party symbol.

New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has given a strong response to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's claim on the election symbol of Shiv Sena - a "bow and arrow". Along with that, he also sought 4 weeks from the Election Commission to submit documents to claim the party symbol. Earlier last week, Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission to not take "precipitative action" on Eknath Shinde's claim of being the "real" Shiv Sena as opposed to Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction.

Amid the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde tussle, the Shiv Sena chief has urged Shivsainiks or Sena workers to hold on to the Shiv Sena symbol in an address outside his residence Matoshree.

He said that it is their (his faction's workers) blood that has the blood of a Shiv Sainik. Thackeray reiterated that the other Sena faction is not close to snatching the Shiv Sena symbol but if someone tried to touch the saffron, he urged workers to 'show them'. 

"Forget snatching, the hand that dares to touch the bhagwa should break," Thackeray said.

Meanwhile, on Monday (Aug 8), Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has sought four weeks to submit documents in support of its claim on the election symbol, a party leader said on Monday. Last month, the Election Commission had asked the rival factions of the Shiv Sena, led by Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, to submit documents by August 8.

(With agency inputs)