MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that no one can take away the ‘bow and arrow’ party symbol from him and that if the rebels felt they were right, then they would have to face the midterm polls.
In a presser at his residence, Uddhav said constitutional experts told him that the legislature party and political party are two separate entities.
“Some MLAs might have left us, but that will not have an impact on the registered party. Earlier too, some MLAs had left us, but the party symbol remained with the original Sena,” said the former CM.
Uddhav’s response came amid rebel Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil’s assertion that most party MLAs and corporators were with the dissident group.
“They (the dissidents) are the natural claimants of the party symbol,” he said.
He said the Supreme Court’s decision is important for Sena as much as for the nation “if we want to protect democracy.”
Thackeray said the Supreme Court's verdict on the disqualification plea of 16 rebel MLAs, scheduled to be given on July 11, will decide not just the future of the Shiv Sena, but also of Indian democracy.
Shinde raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership last month, a move that led to the fall of the MVA government comprising Sena, NCP and Congress.
A day after Thackeray resigned as chief minister on June 29, Shinde took oath of the top post with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis being sworn in as his deputy.
Shinde enjoys the support of 40 out of 55 MLAs of the Sena.
Hardening his stand against the rebels, Thackeray asked how they can claim to love the 'Matoshree' and the Thackeray family if they align with those who have subjected him and his family to the worst kind of criticism and even attempted to "destroy his sons' lives".
"According to law, no one can take away the bow and arrow symbol from Shiv Sena. I am saying this after talking to constitutional experts," he said.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil had on Wednesday said the faction led by Shinde was the real claimant of the party's poll symbol.
Seeking to assuage the concerns of his party workers, Thackeray said people do not just look at the party symbol while voting, but also look at the person and also whether the candidate belongs to the Shiv Sena.
The Shiv Sena as a political party and a legislature party are two separate identities, he said, adding that even if just one, 50 or even 100 MLAs leave the party, it does not cease to exist.
"Confusion is being created. Legislature party and registered party are two different identities. No one can take along the party workers with them," Thackeray said.
"There should be mid-term polls. If we have made a mistake, people will not favour us and that will be acceptable to us," he said.
Earlier this week, Sena leader Sanjay Raut claimed that his party will win over 100 seats if mid-term polls are held in the state.
On Thursday, the rebel faction's spokesperson had said that if there was any possibility of reconciliation with the parent party, then Thackeray should also talk to the BJP as the dissidents have aligned with that party.
Thackeray hit out at the rebel group for keeping mum when the BJP targeted and "abused" him and his family in the last two-and-a-half years.
"You keep in touch with them and betray your own party like this," he said without naming anyone.
He wondered whether the rebel MLAs' love for him and his family was real.
"You are sitting next to those who criticised the Thackeray family in the worst forms. You are hugging them. They tried to ruin my sons' lives," he said.
He said the change of power in the state could have happened with grace and in a dignified manner in 2019 without "betrayal".
He was referring to the Sena and BJP's parting of ways after the 2019 Assembly poll results over the issue of rotational chief minister.
Thackeray said the Supreme Court's verdict on July 11 will decide not just the future of Shiv Sena but also the future of Indian democracy.
"I trust the judiciary. The Supreme Court order (on the plea for disqualification of rebel MLAs) is not restricted to Shiv Sena alone, but it will also show the direction in which the democracy is heading. The country is looking at what decision the SC gives because this will also show the future of democracy in the country and whether the four pillars of democracy are discharging their duties or now," he said.
Thackeray also said he would take a decision which candidate to support for the presidential election after consulting the party MPs.
Earlier this week, Sena's Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale urged him to direct the party MPs to vote for the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
During his press conference, Thackeray did not take any questions from the media.
Meanwhile, Rajendra Gavit, the Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra's Palghar Lok Sabha seat, has asked party chief Uddhav to support the candidature of Draupadi Murmu in the July 18 presidential election.
While Gavit, who belongs to a tribal community, is the second Sena MP to suggest that the party back Murmu, candidate of the BJP-led NDA, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has not yet declared its stand.
The rebel Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, now Maharashtra Chief Minister, has decided to support Murmu, according to sources.
In a letter written to Thackeray on Thursday, Gavit said it would be an honour if a tribal person became the President of India.
In past elections, Sena founder Bal Thackeray had broken ranks with the NDA and supported the candidatures of Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee (both Congress leaders), Gavit pointed out.
Thackeray-led Shiv Sena left the NDA in 2019 as the party formed a government with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra after ditching the old ally BJP.
Earlier this week, the Sena's MP from Mumbai South Central seat, Rahul Shewale, had written to Thackeray and sought that the party back Murmu.
(With PTI Inputs)