Maharashtra: Shinde camp starts Shiv Sena takeover process including funds

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Tuesday convened a working committee meeting of the Shiv Sena to initiate the process of a complete takeover of the party, including access to funds.According to Shiv Sena MLA and party chief whip Bharat Gogawale, so far there is no decision on staking claim on party funds. “We have convened a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). We will discuss all these aspects in the meeting. A decision on taking over other offices will also be discussed in the meeting and accordingly, the next plan of action will be decided. So far we have not claimed the funds,” he said. Meanwhile, the battle between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde over the name, symbol and legacy of the Shiv Sena has now moved to the Supreme Court. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for an early listing of the Thackeray-led Sena faction's request.

Eknath Shinde yesterday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court asking them to also hear from the Maharashtra government before passing any order.The election commission recognised the faction led by Mr Shinde as the real Shiv Sena and allotted them the "bow and arrow" poll symbol. The ruling is a blow to the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the party in 1966. In June last year, Mr Shinde had mounted a rebellion, flying away with over 40 Sena MLAs with the help of the BJP, and triggering the eventual ouster of Mr Thackeray's government that included two ideologically disparate allies in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. In its 78-page order, the Election Commission allowed the Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly bypolls in the state. The Commission said MLAs backing Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Uddhav Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes.