EC can allot symbol to a party, but can’t change its name, says Uddhav

NAGPUR: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray Monday said the Election Commission (EC) had no right to snatch the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ from him as the name was given to the party by his grandfather (Keshav Thackeray). He made the remarks while addressing reporters in Amravati.
Uddhav said, “The Election Commission has no powers to change the name of a party. It can allot an electoral symbol to a party.The name Shiv Sena was given by my grandfather (Keshav Thackeray), how can the EC change it? I will not allow anyone to steal the name of the party. ”
In February, the EC allotted the name Shiv Sena and its poll symbol of bow and arrow to the group led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.
Demanding that BJP be renamed as “Bhrasht Janata Party” for joining hands with its ideological rival NCP, Thackeray later said in Nagpur that voters should be given the option of right to recall if they feel elected representatives were not fulfilling their expectations.
He also questioned RSS, which has its headquarters in Nagpur, whether it approved of “the Hindutvaadopted by BJP” and asked about BJP’s alliance with what PM Narendra Modi once referred as the ‘naturally corrupt party’.
Launching an attack on deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Thackeray said while Fadnavis was “a blot on Nagpur city,” Bawankule was a confused soul who had been denied a poll ticket by the party in the 2019 polls.
He also played an old clip of Fadnavis where he had categorically denied tying up with NCP.
Further attacking BJP, he said, “Now, I have heard that PM’s Mann Ki Baat is being translated into Urdu and would be telecast in madrassas. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also visits mosques. I just want to ask whether the Sangh, completing its centenary soon, approves such Hindutva (of appeasement). I do not know why they are behaving like this. The old BJP workers, who dedicated their lives and sacrificed families for the party, are no longer seen with them. ”
Thackeray again dared the PM to visit Manipur, which has been rocked by violence.