Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission were taking decisions on the basis of what the central government wanted, endorsing the allegations of bias levelled by parties like the Congress and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Speaking to the media in Chinchwad, Maharashtra, Pawar said: “Never seen Election Commission take away total control of one political party. Balasaheb Thackeray said Uddhav Thackeray will lead the Shiv Sena after him. But the Election commission has given Sena’s name and symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction. Nothing like this ever happened in India.”

Warning the Shinde group and the BJP that the people side with the leader against whom injustice has been done in such situations, Pawar said he could feel the pulse on the ground and the public support was rising for Uddhav.

While the Congress has constantly said over the past few years that the commission was working like a department of the government, Uddhav had recently described it as a “puppet and slave” of the Narendra Modi government.

The Congress and the NCP have remained solidly with Uddhav, hoping that the people will support him in this battle.