Why Uddhav, Raj Thackeray Are Dropping Party Flags for Mumbai March Against ECI

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joined forces in Mumbai on Sunday to protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI), with both parties demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

But the most striking feature of the rally led by cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray was what was missing — their party flags. The march began at Richardson & Cruddas in Byculla and proceeded towards the BMC headquarters at CSMT. Supporters of both parties were instructed to carry only the Tricolour, with neither the Shiv Sena (UBT) nor MNS flag or symbol allowed at the demonstration.

The move is aimed at giving the protest a wider appeal by shifting the focus away from party identities and towards a single issue: the functioning of the ECI.

Why the ECI is at the centre of the protest

The Thackerays are protesting against the Commission amid a wider political controversy over its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The exercise began in Bihar in June 2025 and has since covered 30 states and Union Territories. More than 13 crore names have been excluded from draft electoral rolls, while large numbers of voters have received notices requiring them to submit documents to establish their eligibility.

In Maharashtra, the August 31 draft roll excluded 2.07 crore electors whose enumeration forms had not been collected. Another 1.22 crore voters were served notices. Opposition parties, led by the Congress, have alleged that the exercise amounts to “vote theft”.

The Commission has also faced questions over its internal functioning. An investigation by The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission’s name without their knowledge.

Their objections reportedly covered issues including the form for new voters, electoral-roll software and appeals concerning restored voters in West Bengal. The objections were also shared with CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

The Commission initially described the objections as “suggestions”. It subsequently took decisions on several of the issues and later ordered a special drive in 20 states to restore voters who had been left out of the rolls.

Why no party flags?

Raj Thackeray has made it clear that the flagless format is intentional.

“No individual flags. Only Tricolour. The agenda is only ECI and its working. Therefore, anybody including BJP can come and join the rally on the issue,” he said.

The idea is to make the protest appear broader than a Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS mobilisation. By putting aside their party symbols, the Thackerays are seeking to create space for people who may not identify with either party but share concerns about the functioning of the election machinery.

The format also resembles the recent protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical youth movement launched online by political communications strategist Abhijit Dipke. Dipke had asked participants at its Shivaji Park protest to carry only the Tricolour. Uddhav Thackeray had backed that demonstration.

“Everybody is trying to raise the issue in their own way. But the agenda is one,” Uddhav said.

The NCP (SP) has also extended support to the rally. Party working president Supriya Sule said her party was backing the joint Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS protest.

Uddhav’s long-running ECI grievance

For Uddhav Thackeray, the dispute with the ECI is not limited to the current SIR controversy.

The Commission’s role in the 2022 Shiv Sena split remains a major source of resentment within the Uddhav camp. After Eknath Shinde led a rebellion that split the party founded by Bal Thackeray, the ECI in February 2023 awarded the Shiv Sena name and its bow-and-arrow symbol to the Shinde faction.

Uddhav’s faction was forced to contest elections under a new name and symbol — Shiv Sena (UBT) and the flaming torch, or “mashal”.

A Shiv Sena (UBT) insider said the party’s concerns over the ECI therefore predate the SIR exercise.

“ECI has been one topic on which all national and regional parties have been raising questions. Our reasons may vary. The Shiv Sena split was a body blow for Uddhav Thackeray even before SIR mismanagement. The ECI awarding the original title and symbol to rebel deputy CM Eknath Shinde faction was a devastating development. We overcame that and contested 2024 elections on the new symbol ‘mashal’,” the insider said.

A common platform for the Thackerays

The ECI controversy has given Uddhav and Raj Thackeray a rare issue on which they can campaign together while keeping their separate party identities in the background.

With the next Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections not due until 2029, the immediate electoral consequences of the mobilisation are uncertain. For now, the joint campaign allows the two parties to reach beyond their traditional bases and present the protest as an institutional issue rather than a conventional party battle.

The decision to carry only the Tricolour is central to that strategy: fewer party identities, a broader message, and one common target — the functioning of the Election Commission.