Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction has, at least for now, won the battle for the Shiv Sena’s legacy with the Election Commission of India (ECI). Party name and allotment of bow and arrow symbol This. The ECI rejected a petition by the second faction, led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, to stall the decision until the Supreme Court of India decided on a set of interrelated questions related to the split in the party. Went. Mr Thackeray lost the CM’s chair to Mr Shinde In June 2022. The ‘test of majority’ principle applied by the ECI went in favor of the Shinde group, which has 40 MLAs and 13 MPs, while the Thackeray side has 15 MLAs and five MPs. Among those who voted for the party in the previous elections, the ECI concluded that the Shinde group represented a significantly larger number of voters than the Thackeray faction. The ECI decided not to go into the ‘test of party constitution’, the second yardstick applicable in such situations, in its indictment of Mr Thackeray, who made unilateral and self-serving changes to the Sena’s constitution. The ECI’s decision is a blow to Mr Thackeray, who has been fighting hard to retain control of the party founded by his father in 1966.
The court is scheduled to begin hearing on February 21 the petitions of both the camps claiming to be the real Shiv Sena. As per the provisions of the anti-defection law, whichever faction is accepted as the real Shiv Sena will have the right to coerce MLAs through whip. The Shinde faction argues that the chief minister took control of the party after an internal rebellion and in accordance with the will of the majority; And none has defected, as is being alleged by the Thackeray faction. The court is also examining whether a presiding officer, whose legitimacy is itself in doubt, can proceed to determine the disqualification of legislators under the anti-defection law. Given that these questions will be debated in the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, the ECI could wait. It is unlikely that the ECI’s decision on the name and symbol will also be taken up in court. Leaving aside this legal battle, the real battle between the two factions is for the popular base. In this case too Mr. Thackeray has handed over the floor to Mr. Shinde who is increasing his hold over the cadre and network. Clearly, Mr. Shinde’s political alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party is more palatable to party workers, fed up with a high dose of religious extremism and regional bigotry over the years, than Mr. Thackeray’s opportunistic experiments with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. have arrived. ,