Uddhav Thackeray submits 3 names and 3 symbols to EC, seeks early allotment

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked the Election Commission to finalise one of three symbols- a trident, burning torch, and rising Sun- submitted by his camp and a name without delay ahead of the bypoll to the Andheri (East) assembly segment.

In a virtual address, Thackeray said his camp has submitted three names- "Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena Balasaheb Prabodhankar Thackeray, and Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray" to the EC and expects it to allot one of them.

A day earlier, the poll body froze Shiv Sena's 'bow and arrow' poll symbol and also barred the factions led by Thackeray and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde from using the party name in the November 3 bypoll.

Prabodhankar Thackeray, a social reformer and one of the stalwarts of the "Samyukta Maharashtra" movement in 1950s, is the late grandfather of Uddhav Thackeray and Bal Thackeray his father.

Thackeray said his faction has also submitted to the EC three options- a rising Sun, a burning torch (mashaal), and a trident- and expects it to allot one of them as the poll symbol for the byelection.

The bypoll is expected to be a straight fight between the Thackeray faction and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a first after the vertical split in Shiv Sena in June this year.

In a YouTube live, Thackeray tore into CM Shinde's camp and also took swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“I appeal to the ECI to finalise a symbol and name for my party at the earliest because we have to go to the people and face the bye-election. I was shocked by the decision of the ECI, but my confidence is not shaken and also my faith in Sena supporters,” he added.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) always targets Congress over former prime minister Indira Gandhi's decision to invoke the Emergency.

"However, neither Indira Gandhi tried to finish off Shiv Sena nor any other Congress-led government took such extreme steps against Shiv Sena,” he said. The Sena chief said the 40 rebels, who are enjoying plum posts with the support of the BJP, will be dumped like an "empty beverage bottle" once their utility is over.

"Nobody keeps the empty bottle at home once the beverage is consumed completely,” he added.

“The traitors first took my chair by cheating and also tried to appropriate Shiv Sena and the legacy. Now they ensured that the symbol (bow and arrow) is frozen,” Thackeray added.

The former chief minister said he tolerated these acts but it is too much for him now. “Such acts of these people can be equated with a person stabbing his own mother. These are heartless people who are trying to finish the very political party that gave them so much space, posts and image,” he added.

The Sena chief said he was waiting for the right opportunity to strike back.

"I will give my best against them. They (Shinde camp) should realise that their utility is now almost over with the ECI freezing the election symbol of Shiv Sena. Now, they are left with very little time in their hand,” he said.