MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday slammed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for sending a notice to his party, asking for the removal of the words ‘Hindu dharma’ and ‘Jai Bhavani’ from its election campaign song. Declaring that he would not delete the words, Thackeray said the ECI’s objection to the slogan of ‘Jai Bhavani’ was “an insult to Maharashtra and Marathi pride”. He also dared the ECI to first act against PM Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah for using the name of Lord Hanuman and the Ram temple to directly solicit votes.
“Last week, we released ‘Mashal Geet’ as the party’s campaign song,” said Thackeray in a press conference at Matoshri. “The ECI objected to two words in it, ‘Hindu dharma’ and ‘Jai Bhavani’. The chorus of the song has the slogan ‘Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji’, which is the pride of Maharashtra and Marathi. We have received this fatwa to remove ‘Jai Bhavani’. We had no idea that the ECI, which is a puppet of the central government, has such hatred for goddess Tulja Bhavani, the clan deity of Maharashtra. Today they are asking us to remove ‘Jai Bhavani’, tomorrow they will say remove ‘Jai Shivaji’. We will not tolerate this.”
While the words ‘Hindu dharma’ are also a part of the song, Thackeray’s contention was that they were not a direct solicitation of votes on the basis of Hinduism. Refusing outright to remove both words, he said he would fight a legal battle if necessary. “The BJP keeps accusing my party of having given up Hindutva, and now the ECI, the puppet of the ruling party, has issued a notice to us for using Hindu words in campaign songs,” he said.
The other reason for Thackeray’s ire was the ECI’s double standards. “A few months ago, I had written a letter to the poll body to question the use of religion in the Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka election campaigns by BJP leaders,” he said. “Narendra Modi asked voters in Karnataka to chant ‘Jai Bajrangbali’ and then press the voting machine button. In Madhya Pradesh, Amit Shah promised voters that the BJP would arrange a free tour of the Ram temple at Ayodhya if voted to power in the state. I mentioned both speeches in my letter to the ECI and sought a clarification. But there was no response. So if the ECI now wants to take action against us, it will also have to act against PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah.”
{{/usCountry}}The other reason for Thackeray’s ire was the ECI’s double standards. “A few months ago, I had written a letter to the poll body to question the use of religion in the Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka election campaigns by BJP leaders,” he said. “Narendra Modi asked voters in Karnataka to chant ‘Jai Bajrangbali’ and then press the voting machine button. In Madhya Pradesh, Amit Shah promised voters that the BJP would arrange a free tour of the Ram temple at Ayodhya if voted to power in the state. I mentioned both speeches in my letter to the ECI and sought a clarification. But there was no response. So if the ECI now wants to take action against us, it will also have to act against PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah.”
{{/usCountry}}Thackeray ignores question on Narvekar
Rumour has it that the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is considering Milind Narvekar, Uddhav Thackeray’s personal assistant of over two decades, as a candidate from the Mumbai South or Mumbai South West constituency. When the media posed questions on the possibility of Narvekar leaving the party and joining CM Shinde to fight the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray sidestepped them by saying that the ECI notice was a more important issue. By doing so, the Sena (UBT) chief indirectly indicated that he was not overly bothered about whether Narvekar remained in the party or joined Shinde.