Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray warned that the 2024 Lok Sabha could be the last in the country as anarchists will take over the government. "If this [the current scenario in Maharashtra] is not stopped, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections may turn out to be the last elections in the country as after that anarchy will start here," Uddhav Thackeray was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
His statement comes after his faction lost the bow & arrow election symbol to CM Eknath Shinde's faction. Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP and Uddhav loyalist Sanjay Raut later alleged that the poll symbol was "sold to the Shinde faction for Rs 2,000 crore".
Thackeray said: "Everything has been stolen from me. The name and symbol of our party have been stolen, but the name 'Thackeray' cannot be stolen. We have moved the Supreme Court against the decision given by the Election Commission. The hearing will start tomorrow."
Thackeray said: "I had requested the Election Commission, that there is a matter of suspended MLAs in the Supreme Court and until the verdict comes, don't give your decision."
Earlier in the day, Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for an early listing of the Thackeray-led Sena faction's petition.
The CJI, however, refused to pass any order, PTI reported.
According to ANI, Uddhav Thackeray in the plea stated that the ECI has failed to consider that they enjoy a majority in the Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha. He submitted that the legislative majority alone, in this case, could not be the basis for passing the order by ECI.
Last week, ECI allotted the party name "Shiv Sena" and the symbol "Bow and Arrow" to the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Notably, both factions of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray) have been fighting for the bow and arrow symbol of the party since Shinde (present Maharashtra Chief Minister) revolted against Thackeray last year.
In its order, ECI observed 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", as reported by ANI. It said such party structures fail to inspire confidence.
While the Shinde faction welcomed the decision of being recognised as the real Shiv Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray faction accused the Election Commission of being hasty and said the decision showed "it works as BJP agent".