Lambasting the turncoats from his party who had switched allegiances, leading to the collapse of his government, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray asserted that the label of gaddar (traitor) was a stain that could not be cleansed by any means and it had not only been affixed to them but also to their descendants.

Thackeray on Tuesday addressed the first traditional Dussehra rally of his party at Shivaji Park in Dadar after losing the Shiv Sena name and iconic bow-and-arrow symbol as the Election Commission of India (ECI) had officially recognized Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction as the “real” Shiv Sena. Promoting his party’s new symbol, the flaming torch, Thackeray said, “All your hands are flaming torches. Burn those who mess up with Maharashtra, and overturn their government by voting against them. This is the 57th Dussehra rally of the Shiv Sena. In all these years, we have kept alive the tradition and legacy that Balasaheb Thackeray handed over to us. There have been attempts to end this legacy, but they failed.”