MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday submitted three symbols – trident, rising sun and burning torch – to the Election Commission of India and requested it to approve one of them, a day after the poll panel barred both his and Eknath Shinde-led factions of the party from using Sena’s name or symbol.
Uddhav said his party has also submitted three names to the EC: Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena Balasaheb Prabodhankar Thackeray, and Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray. Addressing his supporters, Uddhav said the BJP is trying to finish off the Sena.
He pointed out that during the Emergency, some leaders had requested Indira Gandhi to finish off Shiv Sena, but she did not take such a drastic action. “Congress never tried to finish us as a political party, but the BJP is trying to do it. So, who is more dangerous? The Congress or the BJP? I want to tell them that I will not run away from this battleground. I am here to fight,” Uddhav said.
“The traitors first took my chair by cheating and also tried to appropriate Shiv Sena and its legacy. Now they ensured that the symbol (bow and arrow) is frozen,” he rued. He challenged the Shinde camp to face the elections without using Balasaheb Thackeray’s name. “I still challenge them to exclude the name of Balasaheb Thackeray and face elections. They want his name, his party, but not his son,” he said. Uddhav also warned that MLAs in the Shinde camp would soon find themselves disqualified.