Mumbai, Jan 16 (IANS): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Anil Parab said in Mumbai on Tuesday that the election of Uddhav Thackeray as the President of the original and undivided Shiv Sena was as per norms, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) was fully aware of it.

Addressing a mammoth town hall-style meeting in Mumbai, Parab slammed the January 10 verdict of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, Rahul Narwekar, on the disqualification of MLAs of the two factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Parab played the videos of the 2013 and 2018 elections held in the (undivided) Shiv Sena which unanimously elected Uddhav Thackeray as the President with full powers, on both occasions.

“All the decisions were taken as per the norms and rules, and all relevant papers were submitted to the ECI, with the list of the party’s other elected leaders, the national executive and other office-bearers. We have the copies of the ECI’s date-stamp, the signature of its receiving official and everything was in the public domain,” said Parab.

Parab alleged that the same documents were submitted to the Speaker also, but despite all this, he chose to ignore everything that was done as per the laws.

“The Speaker has denied everything and lied about it in his verdict… The Speaker had no right to claim that all these documents were not submitted to the ECI or on Uddhav Thackeray’s election as party President,” pointed out Parab.

He said that Uddhav Thackeray’s name as party President was registered with the ECI from March 21, 2013 onwards, along with all other requisite details and required information, yet the Speaker did not consider it while giving his verdict on January 10, which does not augur well for democracy.

Present at the town hall meeting were Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, sons Aditya and Tejas, top party leaders, office-bearers, and activists as the event was live-streamed across the state.