Hitting back at Uddhav Thackeray for calling him a “thief”, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said he is making lakhs of people thieves and accused him of selling out the ideology of Bal Thackeray in 2019.
The new war of words began after the Election Commission of India allotted the party name “Shiv Sena” and the party symbol “Bow and Arrow” to the Eknath Shinde faction.
“Someone called us thieves. You are making lakhs of people thieves. 50 MLAs, 13 MPs, hundreds of public representatives and lakhs of workers are thieves. Will you ever introspect? Try to improve now. Merit is with us, the majority is with us. This was expected as the majority was with us. In a democracy, is majority important or minority important?” Shinde asked.
Hailing the move, CM Eknath Shinde said this win is of teachings of Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe. “It’s a victory of democracy. This country runs on the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar. We formed our Government on the basis of that Constitution. The EC order that came today is on the basis of merit. I express my gratitude to the Election Commission,” he added.
Following the EC’s order, Eknath Shinde updated his display picture on Twitter and put up Shiv Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol as the picture.
Last year, Shinde rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the 56 Sena MLAs and 13 of its 18 Lok Sabha members.
Uddhav Thackeray said this is the murder of democracy and he will approach the Supreme Court.
Pointing out that the battle is still in the apex court, Uddhav said it was expected from the poll body to give the ruling without hearing his side.
“They have stolen the Shiv Sena symbol. We will keep fighting and won’t lose hope. For now, let Shinde be happy with his theft. Once a traitor, always a traitor,” NDTV quoted Thackeray as saying.
In the order, the Election Commission observed that the current Constitution of the Shiv Sena is “undemocratic. It has been mutilated to undemocratically appoint people from a coterie as office bearers without any election at all. Such party structures fail to inspire confidence, the EC added.
The EC observed 40 MLAs, supporting the Shinde faction, garnered 36,57,327 votes out of total 47,82,440 votes i.e ~76% of votes polled in favour of 55 winning MLAs. This contrasts with 11,25,113 votes garnered by 15 MLAs whose support is claimed by the Thackeray faction. As against 90,49,789, total votes polled by Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly election in 2019 (including the losing candidates), votes polled by 40 MLAs supporting the petitioner come to ~40 % whereas votes polled by 15 MLAs supporting the Respondents come to ~12% of total votes.
13 MPs supporting the Shinde faction garnered 74,88,634 votes out of total 1,02,45143 votes i.e ~73% of votes polled in favor of 18 MPs in Lok Sabha polls 2019. This contrasts with 27,56,509 votes garnered by 5 MPs supporting Thackeray faction i.e ~ 27% of votes polled in favour of 18 MPs.
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