The Name Shiv Sena Was Given By My Grandfather, Won't Allow Anyone To Steal It: Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray said that the name 'Shiv Sena' was given by his grandfather Keshav Thackeray and he will not let anyone 'steal' it.

Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Source : PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said that the name 'Shiv Sena' was given by his grandfather Keshav Thackeray and he will not let anyone "steal" it. Speaking to reporters in Amaravati district during a tour of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Uddhav said that the Election Commission can allot an electoral symbol to a party, but it does not have the power to change the name of a party. He also said the name 'Shiv Sena' was given by his grandfather (Keshav Thackeray) and he will not let anyone "steal" it.

Thackeray said that he had promised Balasaheb Thackeray that there will be a CM from Shiv Sena. "It wasn't my aspiration to be the Chief Minister. I want a CM from Shiv Sena in future too. I had promised Balasaheb Thackeray that there will be a CM from Shiv Sena," Thackeray said.

In February this year, the Election Commission allotted the name ‘Shiv Sena’ and its poll symbol ‘bow and arrow’ to the group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The EC allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to retain the name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the ‘flaming torch’ poll symbol, given to it in an interim order last year. After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Uddhav Thackeray broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the help of the NCP and Congress.

In June last year, Shinde broke ranks with Thackeray and formed a government in alliance with the BJP.

The former state chief minister on Monday said, “The Election Commission has no powers to change the name of a party. It can allot an electoral symbol to a party,” as quoted by the news agency PTI

“The name Shiv Sena was given by my grandfather, how can the EC change the name? I will not allow anyone to steal the name of the party,” he said.

To a question on some opposition parties trying to come together to take on the BJP-led central government ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due next year, he said, “I will not call it as the unity of the opposition parties, but we all are patriots and we are doing it for the sake of democracy," as quoted by PTI. 

It is the unity of the people who love their country, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader added.

Uddhav Thackeray also said that despite the imposition of Emergency (1975-77) in the country, the then government allowed the opposition parties to campaign for the general elections. “Literary figures like P L Deshpande, Durga Bhagwat also campaigned and the Janata Party's government was formed. I wonder whether that much freedom is left in the country during the present time,” he said.

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