MUMBAI: Reacting to the ECI verdict on Friday that Eknath Shinde represents the real Shiv Sena, NCP president Sharad Pawar said it is the ECI’s decision and it will be wrong to debate on the verdict. “In my view, it will not make any difference. People will discuss it for a fortnight or a month, then forget it. In the past too, Congress led by Indira Gandhi had faced a similar situation. Then its cow-and-calf symbol was changed to the hand. People accepted the new symbol. Now also, it will not make any difference.”
Meanwhile, Congress and other NCP leaders reacted sharply to the order. Ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan said since the ECI is controlled and governed by retired bureaucrats, an anti-Uddhav Thackeray verdict was expected. “ ECI accepted that Shinde faction has legislative and parliamentary majority. However, it did not take note of the organisational strength of Thackeray faction,” Chavan said.
It submitted it has a membership of 22 lakh while Shinde faction has a strength of four lakh…, ” Chavan said.
Congress legislature party Balasaheb Thorat said the order is against democracy. “I have seen Shiv Sena grow in Mumbai and the state. No one can separate Thackeray from Shiv Sena. Even if ECI has allotted the name of the party and symbol to Eknath Shinde, in people’s court Uddhav Thackeray will win,” Thorat said.