The Election Commission of India, in an interim order passed on Saturday night, froze the ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol of the Shiv Sena until the competing claims between the two rival factions are resolved. 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 symbol in the upcoming bypoll for Andheri East assembly segment in Mumbai.
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 are slotted to go head to head in their first electoral contest in the bypoll on November 3.
Why did the EC Freeze the Symbol?
Citing past precedence, the Election Commission said the symbol had been frozen in order to “place both the rival groups on an even keel and to protect their rights and interests.”
“For the purposes of the current bye-elections”, the order said, the two groups “shall…be allotted such different symbols as they may choose from the list of free symbols…”.
The final call on who gets the party symbol lies with the Election Commission and the process is mentioned in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order of 1968. EC cited Para 15 of the Symbols Order, 1968 in the case of the Shiv Sena, as per Indian Express.
The Order states: “When the Commission is satisfied… that there are rival sections or groups of a recognised political party each of whom claims to be that party the Commission may, after taking into account all the available facts and circumstances of the case and hearing (their) representatives… and other persons as desire to be heard decide that one such rival section or group or none of such rival sections or groups is that recognised political party and the decision of the Commission shall be binding on all such rival sections or groups.”
How Is the Dispute Resolved?
A clear majority of party delegates, MPs and MLAs supporting one of the factions has been cited in almost all disputes decided by the EC so far, the Indian Express said. In the case of the Shiv Sena, the majority of the party’s elected representatives have switched over to Shinde’s side.
Whenever the EC could not test the strength of rival groups based on support within the party organisation, it fell back on testing the majority only among elected MPs and MLAs.
Has This Happened Before?
Tussles over election symbols are not new. When a party splits, a dispute over the symbol often ensues between factions. The EC took a similar decision in October 2021, when it froze the ‘Bungalow’ election symbol of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) over a split. Before that, tussles over the election symbol had been witnessed in 2017 after the Samajwadi Party, with the ‘Cycle’ symbole and the AIADMK, ‘two leaves’ split.
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