The fight for Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy took an interesting turn on Friday, February 17, when his protégé and current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde defeated his son and former state CM Uddhav Thackeray.
The Election Commission of India, keeping emotions at bay and going by the rationale of numbers, decided to give the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the symbol of ‘bow and arrow’ to the faction led by Maharashtra CM, landing a big blow to the faction led by Uddhav.
In its 78-page final order in the dispute, ECI said, “The outcome of the majority test in the legislative wing reflects the qualitative superiority of petitioner (Eknath Shinde).”
Citing numbers, ECI further added, “Uddhav Thackeray faction MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in Maharashtra in the 2019 polls. Meanwhile, MLAs backing Eknath Shinde got nearly 76 per cent votes.”
Hailing the decision of ECI, CM Shinde said, “We set up the government in Maharashtra (with BJP) last year keeping in mind the thoughts of Balasaheb. This is the victory of Balasaheb’s legacy.”
As soon as the decision came, CM Shinde added the bow and arrow symbol and the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ to his Twitter handle.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The Election Commission’s decision in favour of Eknath Shinde established that Shinde leads the real Shiv Sena.”
“The decision has been made on merit. Shiv Sena is a party of ideology. “Shinde is carrying the ideology forward… he is following in the footsteps of Balasaheb Thackeray,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
Understandably, the ECI decision was hard to digest for Uddav Thackeray, as he called the Shinde faction thugs. He also stated that he will knock on SC’s doors.
“It is not easy to finish Shiv Sena; the Shiv Sena will take its fight to the Supreme Court. Thugs may have stolen our name and symbol, but they will not be able to retain and digest it,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Uddhav Thackeray also alleged that ECI’s decision in the matter was preconceived and prejudiced,
“The decision by the ECI is unexpected. We have been fighting this out in the SC for the last six months. I had earlier said that until the SC decision is announced, the EC should not announce its verdict,” Thackeray said.
“If a decision is taken purely based on the total number of elected representatives from that party, then tomorrow any moneybag can buy MLAs and take over control of the party and even become the Prime Minister of the country. ECI has lost credibility completely.” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Sena was split into two factions, with Shinde winning over more than two-thirds of the party’s MLAs. He then became the CM of Maharashtra after joining hands with erstwhile partner, the BJP. Meanwhile, the Uddhav Thackeray faction stayed with the Maha Vikas Aghadi.