Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he would challenge in Supreme Court the Election Commission's decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena, ANI reported. Uddhav Thackeray further said that the Shinde faction had stolen the "bow and arrow" poll symbol and people would avenge this "theft".
"We will surely go to the Supreme Court against this EC order. We are sure that the SC will set aside this order and that the 16 MLAs will be disqualified by SC," ANI quoted Uddhav Thackeray as saying.
The Election Commission on Friday allotted the name 'Shiv Sena' and its poll symbol 'bow and arrow' to the camp led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
READ | EC Recognises Eknath Shinde Faction As Real Shiv Sena, Allocates 'Bow And Arrow' Poll Symbol To It
The three-member commission, in a 78-page order, allowed the Thackeray faction to retain the name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the 'flaming torch' poll symbol till the conclusion of ongoing Assembly bypolls in the state.
Training his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thackeray further said no democracy was left in India. "PM should declare that dictatorship has started in country," Thackeray said.
"I had said that ECI shouldn't give decision before the SC verdict. If party's existence is decided based on number of MLAs and MPs, any capitalist can purchase MLA, MP and become CM," he further said.
In its ruling, the EC noted that MLAs backing Eknath Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of 55 wining Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of the winning Shiv Sena candidates, the three-member Commission said.
"They should first understand Balasaheb.They have come to know that 'Modi' name doesn't work in Maharashtra so they've to put Balasaheb's mask on their face for their own benefit," Thackeray said.
After the EC order, Shinde described the verdict as a "victory of truth and people as well as blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray".
"I thank the Election Commission. Majority counts in democracy. This is the victory of Balasaheb’s legacy. Ours is the true Shiv Sena," PTI quoted Shinde as saying.
"We set up the government in Maharashtra (with the BJP) last year keeping in mind the thoughts of Balasaheb," Shinde said.
The Shiv Sena split into two factions after Shinde revolted against Uddhav Thackeray last year, leading to the collapse of the MVA government. Shinde then went on to form the government with BJP's support and was made the Chief Minister. More than 40 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs backed Shinde, forcing Thackeray to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Since then, both Shinde and Uddhav factions have been fighting for the bow and arrow symbol of the party.