Why the Thackerays are marching without party flags against Gyanesh Kumar's ECI in Mumbai

As the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) took to the streets against the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, their demand was loud and clear: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should resign. An autonomous institution like the ECI, they say, cannot become a convenient weapon for the ruling BJP.

The joint rally, led by cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, started from Richardson & Cruddas in Byculla on Sunday morning and headed to the BMC headquarters at CSMT. Neither party's flag or symbol is on display. Both leaders asked their cadres to carry only the tricolour.

It is a break from past protests. By setting aside their flags, the two regional parties are trying to reach beyond ideological lines and make the agitation more inclusive, built around one agenda: the ECI.

The Commission is under fire over its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which began in Bihar in June 2025 and has struck more than 13 crore names off the draft rolls of 30 states and Union Territories, with crores of voters served notices and asked to produce documents to stay on the list. In Maharashtra, the August 31 draft left out 2.07 crore electors whose enumeration forms were not collected, and a further 1.22 crore have been served notices. The Opposition, led by the Congress, has called it "vote theft."

The questions are not only from outside. An investigation by The Indian Express last month found that two of the Commission's three members, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had objected on record at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission's name without their knowledge, on the form new voters fill, on the software that holds every roll, and on lakhs of appeals filed against restored voters in West Bengal. Their most serious notes were copied to CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The Commission first called the notes "suggestions," then, within days, met and issued nine decisions that read like them, and last week ordered a special drive in 20 states to bring back voters "left out" of the rolls.

"No individual flags. Only tricolor. The agenda is only ECI and its working. Therefore, anybody including BJP can come and join the rally on the issue," Raj said.

In some ways, it is the model used by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical youth movement launched online in May by political communications strategist Abhijit Dipke. Dipke had urged people to bring only tricolours to the CJP's protest at Shivaji Park on Friday, and Uddhav had extended his party's support to it.

More the merrier seems to be the opposition's approach. "Everybody is trying to raise the issue in their own way. But the agenda is one," Uddhav said.

The NCP (SP) has also pledged support. "We are supporting Shiv Sena (UBT)/MNS joint rally," said its working president Supriya Sule.

A grievance that goes back to the split

For Uddhav, the fight with the ECI is personal. In June 2022, a revolt led by Eknath Shinde split the party founded by his father, Bal Thackeray. In February 2023, the ECI awarded the Shiv Sena name and its bow-and-arrow symbol to the Shinde faction. Uddhav strongly questioned the ECI's role, and the anger and hurt over losing the name and the symbol his father conceptualised have stayed with him.

"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'," a Shiv Sena (UBT) insider said.

While the Congress and the CJP have targeted the ECI over alleged "vote theft" and mass deletions from electoral rolls, the Sena (UBT) feels the ECI let it down during the split. That, sources said, has made the Thackerays more determined to take the fight to the streets.

With Lok Sabha and Assembly elections not due till 2029, the electoral impact of the agitation is hard to judge. For now, the two regional parties, trying to consolidate, see little to gain from asserting their individual identities. The fight against the ECI gives them a reason to speak in one voice, set aside differences within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and take their concerns to as many people as possible.