The Election Commission of India on Saturday said neither of the two Shiv Sena factions — one led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and the other by his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray — will be permitted to use the party’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol in the upcoming bypoll for Andheri East assembly segment in Mumbai.
The poll panel passed an interim order to the effect and said neither of the two groups will be permitted to use the poll symbol reserved for the Shiv Sena.
The EC further said both groups will be known by names that they may choose, which can be linked to the parent party. They will also be allotted different election symbols that they may choose from a list of free symbols notified by the ECI.
The interim order covers the purpose of the upcoming bypoll and will continue till the dispute is settled. The two Sena factions will go head to head in their first electoral contest in the bypoll scheduled for November 3.
On Friday, Thackeray said Shinde could not claim the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol as the former party strongman and other MLAs on his side had “voluntarily” quit the party. The Thackeray camp’s reply about its position in the matter came after the poll panel asked the faction to respond on the rival Shinde group’s fresh claim to the Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol in view of the upcoming bypoll.
The EC’s directive came after the Shinde faction submitted a memorandum seeking that it should be allocated the poll symbol. The Andheri East bypoll is the first test of the Shinde faction’s popularity among the masses after the Thackeray camp won a court battle earlier for holding its Dussehra rally at the traditional Sena venue Shivaji Park. The chief minister had to hold his camp’s event at the MMRDA ground in Bandra Kurla Complex.
Uddhav, who is technically still the chief of the Shiv Sena, is collecting affidavits of support from party members to solidify his position. His target is to gather over five lakh affidavits as the EC also considers support from party units.
In a letter to Thackeray on Friday, the EC directed his faction to furnish comments along with requisite documents latest by 2 pm on October 8. The poll panel told Thackeray that the Shinde faction staked claim to the ‘bow and arrow’ on October 4. The Andheri East bypoll was notified on Friday.
The Thackeray group has decided to field Rutuja Latke, the widow of MLA Ramesh Latke, for the Andheri East bypoll. The BJP, an ally of the Shinde faction, has decided to field Murji Patel, a corporator in the BMC, for the bypoll necessitated due to Ramesh Latke’s death. The Congress and the NCP have decided to support the candidate of the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, their coalition partner in the MVA.
EC order ‘injustice’, says Thackeray camp
The Thackeray faction termed the EC order an “injustice”. The poll body should have taken a decision in a holistic manner rather than passing an interim decision for the bypoll, said Ambadas Danve, leader of the opposition in the state legislative council, who owes allegiance to the Thackeray camp. “This is injustice,” he told PTI.
According to EC’s interim order, both the Thackeray and Shinde factions will not be able to use the party name and election symbol in the bypoll. The commission has asked them to suggest by October 10, three name choices for their groups, and also as many free symbols. The commission can allocate the name and the symbol to both factions from the options submitted.
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