Won’t remove ‘religious’ words from campaign song, defiant Thackeray tells ECI

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI) for sending a notice to his party, asking it to remove the words ‘Hindu dharma’ and ‘Jai Bhavani’ from the election campaign song . Stating that he would not remove the words, Thackeray said the ECI’s objection to the ‘Jai Bhavani’ slogan was “an insult to the pride of Maharashtra and Marathi”. He also challenged the ECI to first act against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for using the name of Lord Hanuman and the Ram Temple to directly canvass votes.

“Last week, we released ‘Mashal Geet’ as the party’s campaign song,” Thackeray said at a press conference in Matoshri. “The ECI took exception to two words therein, ‘Hindu dharma’ and ‘Jai Bhavani’. The chorus of the song has the slogan ‘Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji’, the pride of Maharashtra and Marathi. We have received this fatwa to remove ‘Jai Bhavani’. We had no idea that the ECI, a puppet of the central government, harbors such hatred for Goddess Tulja Bhavani, the clan deity of Maharashtra. Today they ask us to remove ‘Jai Bhavani’, tomorrow they will say remove ‘Jai Shivaji’. We will not tolerate this.”

Although the words ‘Hindu dharma’ are also part of the song, Thackeray’s contention was that they were not a direct request for votes based on Hinduism. He flatly refused to remove either word and said he would fight a legal battle if necessary. “The BJP keeps accusing my party of abandoning Hindutva and now the ECI, the ruling party’s puppet, has issued a notice to us for using Hindu words in campaign songs,” he said.

The other reason for Thackeray’s anger was the ECI’s double standards. “A few months ago, I had written a letter to the poll body questioning the use of religion in the Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka election campaigns by BJP leaders,” he said. “Narendra Modi asked voters in Karnataka to sing ‘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 in Ayodhya if he comes to power in the state. I mentioned both speeches in my letter to the ECI and asked for clarification. But there was no response. So if the ECI wants to take action against us now, it will have to take action against Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as well.”

Thackeray ignores the question about Narvekar

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is rumored to be considering Milind Narvekar, Uddhav Thackeray’s personal assistant for over two decades, as its candidate from the Mumbai South or Mumbai South West constituency. When media raised questions about the possibility of Narvekar quitting the party and joining CM Shinde to fight the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray sidestepped them by saying the ECI announcement was a more important issue. By doing so, the Sena chief (UBT) indirectly indicated that he was not too concerned whether Narvekar remained in the party or joined Shinde.