‘Thief must be taught lesson, EC acting like PM’s slave’
A day after the Election Commission (EC) recognised the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena and allotted the party name and symbol of ‘bow and arrow’ to it, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday launched an all-out attack on Shinde, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the poll panel.
Accusing Shinde of “stealing” the party symbol, Thackeray asked his supporters to teach a lesson to the “thief”. While he accused the Modi-led BJP government of misusing Central institutions and agencies to target the Opposition, Thackeray said the poll panel was “acting like a slave”.
Thackeray made these remarks while addressing supporters outside his residence, Matoshree, standing out of his vehicle’s sunroof – an image reminiscent of his father and Shiv Sena founder, Bal Thackeray, addressing his supporters from atop an Ambassador vehicle in the 1960s.
Asking party workers to prepare for elections, he said: “We should not rest till we teach the thief a lesson in elections. Start preparing for elections immediately… The thief has hurled a stone at a beehive. But he has not experienced the sting of honeybees”.
