Shinde faction of Shiv Sena concludes argument before EC, says they are the real party

Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena says it has the numerical strength as well as the control of the organisation

The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena on Tuesday told the Election Commission it was the real party and had the numerical strength as well as the control of the organisation.

Counsel of the Shinde faction Mahesh Jethmalani, arguing before the entire commission, said that Uddhav Thackarey had in 2018 made surreptitious and unconstitutional changes in the Shiv Sena constitution. This combined with the ideological shift in the party due to the alliance with the Congress and the NCP was responsible for the split in the party.

In June last year, Mr. Shinde had walked out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with 40 MLAs in a high-voltage revolt. He became the Chief Minister with the support of the BJP. Since then, the two factions have been battling for control of the party organisation.

“We are the real Shiv Sena. We have the numerical strength and we also have the control of the real organisation,” Mr. Jethmalani said. “We have the majority and that is the real test”.

Editorial | Battle for the Sena: On EC freezing Shiv Sena’s name and symbol

He claimed the support of 40 of the Sena’s 56 MLAs and 13 of the 18 members in the Lok Sabha.

Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal represents the Thackeray faction and will place its arguments before the poll panel on January 17.