Uddhav Thackeray calls party meeting today after EC allots Shinde 'bow and arrow'

Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), called a meeting of his party officials on Saturday to discuss the next steps after the Election Commission (EC) recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena, on Friday.

The meeting of Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, deputy leaders, elected representatives, and spokespersons will be held in the afternoon at Thackeray's residence 'Matoshree' in Mumbai's suburban Bandra, said Thackeray's aide.

In a major blow to Thackeray, the EC gave the name 'Shiv Sena' and its poll symbol 'bow and arrow' to the group led by CM Shinde on Friday. For the first time, the Thackeray family has lost control of the party founded by Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966 on justice for the sons of the soil.

The three-member Commission said in a unanimous order on Shinde's six-month-old plea that it had relied on the party's numerical strength in the legislative wing, where the chief minister had the support of 40 of the 55 MLAs and 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha members. In June last year, Shinde broke ranks with Thackeray and allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the Maharashtra government. 

According to the Commission's order, 40 MLAs from the Shinde faction received 36,57,327 votes out of a total of 47,82,440 votes, accounting for roughly 76 per cent of votes cast in support of the 55 winning MLAs. This was in contrast to the 11,25,113 votes received by 15 MLAs from the Thackeray faction.

On Friday, Thackeray had termed the EC's decision a 'dangerous for democracy' and said he would challenge it in the Supreme Court, while CM Shinde had described the development as a 'victory of truth and people.'

(With inputs from PTI)

Also read: Will challenge EC's decision to recognise Eknath Shinde faction as real Shiv Sena in SC: Uddhav Thackeray

Also read: Huge blow to Uddhav Thackeray as EC gives Shiv Sena name and poll symbol to Eknath Shinde faction

Also read: Working to win 150 seats: BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls