Uddhav Thackeray would have retained Shiv Sena symbol had he stayed with BJP after 2019 polls: Ramdas Athawale

Mumbai: Union minister and RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale has said Uddhav Thackeray would have retained the Shiv Sena's 'bow-and-arrow' symbol had he remained a BJP ally after the 2019 assembly elections, instead of joining hands with the Congress.

He blamed the political choices of ex-chief minister Thackeray for the subsequent split in the Shiv Sena in 2022.

In 2023, the Election Commission recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered allocation of the ‘bow-and-arrow’ poll symbol to it, delivering a big blow to the rival camp led by Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the outfit in 1966.

Addressing a Mahayuti rally at Shivaji Park on Monday ahead of the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Athawale said, "After the 2019 assembly elections, Uddhav Thackeray should have remained with the BJP as the Shiv Sena had won the second-highest number of seats."

"Had he stayed with the BJP, the bow-and-arrow symbol would have remained with him. Late Balasaheb Thackeray opposed the Congress, but Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with the same party to become chief minister," said Athawale, whose party is a member of NDA.

Athawale alleged rampant corruption in the BMC and said the civic body needed to be “freed from the clutches of Uddhav Thackeray”.

"The BMC should come under the control of the Mahayuti alliance," he added.

He also compared the turnout at rival rallies, claiming the Mahayuti rally had drawn a larger crowd than the earlier joint rally of Uddhav and Raj Thackeray.

Athawale, however, said the alliance of the two cousins was a “good thing” politically.

Praising the BJP-led Maharashtra government and the Centre, Athawale said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde had undertaken major development works in Mumbai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sanctioned substantial funds for metro projects, the upgradation of suburban railway services, slum redevelopment, and the construction of quality housing for the poor, including the redevelopment of the Dharavi slum, he noted.