A day after the Election Commission recognized the rival faction led by Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday asked his supporters to teach a lesson to the "thief" who stole the party's `bow and arrow' symbol.
Addressing party workers outside the Thackeray residence `Matoshree' in suburban Bandra from a car with sunroof, he said they should start preparing for elections.
Assembly elections are due in Maharashtra in October 2024. But the EC decision, which deprived Uddhav of the control of the party founded by his father late Bal Thackeray in 1966, came at a time when elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and some other municipal corporations are long due.
Civic elections in Mumbai are very crucial as the cash-rich BMC has been the bastion of the Shiv Sena for more than two decades.
"I am not demoralized, and I am banking on your support. You are my strength," Thackeray told his supporters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that they will never be able to finish off the Shiv Sena despite using the state machinery which has become their slave, he said.
''Are you scared? I have nothing to give you now," he asked the gathering.
His supporters shouted back that they were not, and asked him to give directions for the next move.
''We should not rest till we teach the thief a lesson in elections. Start preparing for elections immediately," said Thackeray who had to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister last June after Eknath Shinde and a majority of Sena MLAs rebelled against his leadership.