Embattled Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asserted that he is leading the original and only Shiv Sena, hitting back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remark that only one Shiv Sena remains, which is headed by Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray addressed party workers in suburban Bhandup, which falls under rebel Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Patil's Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency.
He apologised to the voters for fielding Patil in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"I am not demoralised," he said amid the rebellion by six MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT).
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Thackeray said the undivided Shiv Sena, founded by his father Bal Thackeray, fought with the Congress for thirty years.
"However, the Congress never tried to steal or finish the Sena the way the BJP had done. This is a sin of the BJP. Shiv Sena, headed by me, is the only Shiv Sena," Thackeray added.
Addressing an event in Kolhapur on Saturday, Shah had said that earlier people had to refer to the Shinde-led faction separately, but now no faction remains, and there is only one Shiv Sena, which is headed by Eknath Shinde.
"There can be just one Shiv Sena pramukh who is Bal Thackeray. An outsider cannot decide Shiv Sena pramukh. You stay in your limits," Thackeray said, referring to Shah without naming him.
He claimed that the undivided Shiv Sena helped the BJP grow in the past when the saffron party commanded little political significance.
The BJP once had two MPs, he said, alleging that the party "steals children of others".
Amid the rebellion in Sena (UBT), Thackeray said he was not demoralised and advised the BJP to take care of its own house.
Six MPs, including Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, skipped the Sena (UBT) parliamentary party meeting in Delhi on June 17, fuelling speculation that they were on their way to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The Sena (UBT) has nine Lok Sabha members, and the rebel bloc needs at least six MPs -- two-thirds of the total strength -- to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
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On Sunday, at least two of the six rebel MPs belonging to the Sena (UBT) confirmed they crossed over to the Shinde camp.
Thackeray further said that the "traitors" should be thanked for rejuvenating the party workers.
He said the undivided Shiv Sena always wanted to contest the Mumbai Northeast seat. However, due to an alliance with the BJP, the seat was always allocated to that party. After the Sena-BJP alliance break-up, the seat was taken from the Congress by the Shiv Sena UBT, and won.
"We have to exact revenge and win this seat again," he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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