Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday demanded mid-term elections in Maharashtra, and also asserted that nobody can take away his party's 'bow and arrow' symbol even as the rebel Sena faction has staked a claim to it.
Speaking to reporters at his residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra, Thackeray dared the rebels led by new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP to face mid-term elections, saying that people should be allowed to take a stand on the toppling of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by him. If people did not favour his party in the elections, he would accept the verdict, he said.
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.
The Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear on July 11 a fresh plea of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction challenging the appointment of Eknath Shinde as chief minister of Maharashtra. A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari said the plea will be listed before an appropriate bench.
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.