'A Slave Of Those In Power': Uddhav Slams EC Again, Says 'It Can Never Take Away Shiv Sena From Me'

Disgruntled Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray's reaction came after Election Commission allotted the party's name and symbol to the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde.

New Delhi: Disgruntled Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday (March 5, 2023) once again hit out at the Election Commission for allotting the party's name and symbol to the rebel faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and termed the poll body a "slave" of those in power. Thackeray also dubbed the EC a "chuna lagav" commission after losing the party name and election symbol "bow and arrow" to Shinde and said that the poll body can never take away the party -- founded by his father late Bal Thackeray -- from him.

"You (the Election Commission) have taken away the party name and the symbol from us, but you can't take away Shiv Sena from me," Uddhav said during a public rally in Ratnagiri district's Khed. 

He also said it was Bal Thackeray who stood with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when it was politically "untouchable", and dared the former ally to seek votes in Maharashtra only in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi without invoking the Thackeray senior.

Thackeray also stated that he "didn't accept" the EC's decision.

"If the Election Commission is not suffering from cataract, it should come and see the ground situation. The EC is a 'chuna lagao' commission and a slave of those in power. The principle based on which the EC took this decision is wrong,' he reiterated.

He said the party has appealed in the Supreme Court.

BJP trying to finish off Shiv Sena 

Uddhav Thackeray said the BJP was trying to "finish off" Shiv Sena brutally and cruelly but won't succeed. He stated that the move to destroy Shiv Sena was akin to the attack on the unity of the Marathi people as well as Hindus.

He said earlier sadhus and sants used to be part of the BJP but the party is now full of opportunists.

"The largest number of corrupt people are in BJP. First, they (BJP) accuse the people in the Opposition of corruption. However, those accused of corruption are then inducted into BJP," he alleged.

"People will have to decide whether they want me or Eknath Shinde. I will accept the verdict of the people but not of the EC. If people say they don't want me, I will leave just like I had left 'Varsha' (the official residence of Maharashtra chief minister after resigning from the post"), Uddhav added.

पक्षप्रमुख मा. श्री. उद्धवजी बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांची जाहीर सभा | शिवगर्जना | खेड, रत्नागिरी - LIVE

आता जिंकेपर्यंत लढायचं #UddhavThackeray #निष्ठावंतशिवसैनिक #रत्नागिरी #MAHARASHTRA

[SUNDAY-] https://t.co/JVEtKLRCSo — ShivSena - शिवसेना Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (@ShivSenaUBT_) March 5, 2023

Targetting BJP, he said like Eknath Shinde who "stole" my (Uddhav Thackeray's) father, the BJP has "stolen Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhash Chandra Bose because that party has no icons to bank on".

"When you see someone with a bow and arrow, he is a thief. Will you vote for him (a reference to Shinde)?" he asked the gathering.

He appealed to his Shiv Sainiks to make BJP bite the dust in the elections in Maharashtra.