EC works as BJP agent, Uddav camp:To approach SC

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will approach the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde camp as the real Shiv Sena.  Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha MP of the Shiv Sena on Friday slammed the election commission's decision and hoped that the Supreme Cout will “stand up for constitutional morality. Anything lesser will only take us towards a banana republic, she added. The Uddhav Thackeray faction accused the Election Commission of haste and said the decision shows "it works as BJP agent".

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar claimed that the decision would not have any major impact. He also stressed that the people would accept the new symbol. The NCP chief asked Thackeray to accept the panel's decision and take a new symbol. "It's the decision of the election commission. Once a decision is given, there can be no discussion. Accept it and take a new symbol. It (the loss of the old symbol) is not going to have any major impact as people will accept (the new symbol). It just would remain in the discussion for the next 15-30 days, that's it," Pawar said. He recalled the Congress having to change its symbol from two bullocks with a yoke to a hand and said that the people would accept the new symbol of Uddhav Thackeray faction like the way they accepted the Congress' new symbol. In a unanimous order on the six-month-old petition filed by Shinde, the three-member commission said it had relied on the numerical strength of the party in the legislative wing, where the chief minister enjoyed the support of 40 of the 55 MLAs and 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha members.