Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday joined issue with the Election Commission of India by refusing to remove words “Jai Bhavani” and “Hindu” from the song released by his party to popularise its new symbol “Mashaal” ( flaming torch)  for the Lok Sabha polls.

Responding to a notice issued by the ECO for removal of words “Hindu” and “Jai Bhavani” from the party’s promotional song, Uddhav said that the removal of  “Jai Bhavani” from the song was an “insult” to Maharashtra and his party would not remove the word from the song.

“The words ‘Jai Bhavani’ and ‘Jai Shivaji’ are slogans in the song. The ECI is asking to remove the word ‘Jai Bhavani’ from the song. But, we will not remove the song ‘Jai Bhavani’ from the song,” Uddhav said, while addressing a news conference at his residence “Matoshri” in north-west Mumbai.

“The directive by the ECI is an insult to the self-respect and Goddess of Maharashtra. The directive smacks of political motives.  I did not realise there could be so much hate towards Maharashtra’s deity Bhavani,” he said.

“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj founded Hindavi Swaraj with the blessings of goddess Tulja Bhavani. We are not asking for votes in the name of the goddess or Hindu religion. This is an insult and will not be tolerated. We will continue the practice of raising slogans ‘Jai Bhavani’ and ‘Jai Shivaji’ at our public meetings,” he said.

On the directive by the ECI to his party for removal of the word “Hindu” from his party’s promotional song, the Sena (UBT) chief said: “After we presented the entire song brought to popularise our party symbol `Mashaal’, the ECI has asked to remove the word `Hindu’ from the song. This is not acceptable to us”.             

“If the ECI takes action against us, it will have to tell us what it did when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who while campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections, had asked people to say Jai Bajrang Bali and press the button on EVMs. Amit Shah had told people to vote for the BJP to get Ram Lalla darshan for free in Ayodhya,” Uddhav said.

The Sena (UBT) chief wondered if the election laws had been changed and if it was okay now for the political parties to ask for votes in the name of religion.

“The ECI has not responded to our letter and the reminder we sent. In the reminder, we had said if the laws have been changed, we will also say ‘Har Har Mahadev’ at our election rallies,” Uddhav said.

It may be recalled that on November 16, 2023, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief had accused the ECI of  practising “double standards” while implementing the model code of  conduct for the poll, to favour the BJP. 

Citing how his late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray was disenfranchised in 1995 for six years for his communal speeches in the 1986 State Assembly by-polls, Uddhav had demanded to know if the ECI – which had acted against his father for “pro-Hindutva” campaign -- had changed its rules in acting those violating the  model code of conduct  

In his criticism of the ECI, Uddhav had said that the ECI had failed to act against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his appeal to the voters in the recent Karnataka Assembly polls to “say Bajrangbali ki jai while voting”.Uddhav had also drawn the attention of the ECI to the statement made in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had gone to town, promising the voters that if the BJP  was voted back to power in Madhya Pradesh it “would take all the voters in the state” free of cost to Ayodhya for darshan at the upcoming Lord Ram temple there,

In a letter shot off to the ECI, the Sens (UBT) had alleged that the double standards applied by the Commission were “intriguing” yet “understandable” since it is publicly perceived to be in alignment with the BJP’s actions during elections or otherwise.

“We will be obliged if the Commission were to clarify to the Shiv Sena about the use of religion in the course of state and the Lok Sabha election in 2024.

That will help all political parties for we will all get to know what the Commission believes are the contours of the standards required when it comes to the use of religion, religious symbols, idioms and language, including propagating Hindutva, consistent with the standards adopted by the Commission in the past.

That will ensure that the Commission does not apply double standards in this regard,” Shiv Sena (UBT) general secretary Anil Desai stated in his letter to the ECI.