SC agrees to hear plea by Uddhav Thackeray to restrain Eknath Shinde camp

The Supreme Court has said it will hear at 3.30 pm tomorrow a plea by Uddhav Thackeray to restrain Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde from taking control of Shiv Sena properties and finances.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Thackeray and sought a stay on last week’s Election Commission ruling that gave the Shinde faction the party’s original name and iconic bow-and-arrow symbol. The Shinde camp argued the matter should not be heard by the top court at the first instance.

The two sides have been squabbling over the Shiv Sena name and symbol for over eight months – ever since Shinde and 39 other lawmakers split the party that was then led by Thackeray, who lead a Sena-Congress-NCP government – by walking out and forming a new government with support from the BJP.

On Monday Thackeray told the top court the EC had failed as a neutral arbiter and that its order dealt with issues linked to petitions before it.

“Everything has been stolen from me. The name and symbol of our party have been stolen but the name Thackeray cannot be stolen,” Thackeray said at the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai.

“What the BJP did with us… they can do with anyone. If this continues, after 2024, there won’t be any democracy or election in the country,” he said, accusing the BJP of undermining institutions.

Asked about the Shinde faction taking over some Sena properties, he said, “I dare them to stop using the name of my father and his photo. Let him put photo of his father and then seek votes.”

Thackeray pointed out the EC had already recognised his faction as a separate party ‘… with a separate name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’ and had given it a flaming torch as a symbol. “This means EC recognised our separate existence already,” he said.