Election commission India Said on Saturday that neither of the two Shiv Sena factions – one led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the other led by his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray – will use the party’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol in the upcoming bypolls to the Andheri East assembly constituency. will not be allowed to be used. in Mumbai.
The Election Commission passed an interim order to this effect and said that neither of the two groups will be allowed to use the symbol reserved for Shiv Sena.
The Election Commission further said that both the groups would be known by the names chosen by them, which could be linked to the parent party. They will also be allotted different election symbols which they can choose from the list of free symbols notified by the Election Commission.
The interim order covers the purpose of the upcoming by-election and will continue till the dispute is settled. Both the factions of Shiv Sena will be face to face in the by-polls to be held on November 3.
On Friday, Thackeray said Shinde cannot claim the symbol of ‘bow and arrow’ as the former strongman of the party and other MLAs of his side had “voluntarily” left the party. The Thackeray camp’s reply on its position in the matter came after the Election Commission asked it to respond to the rival Shinde group’s new claim on the Shiv Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol in view of the upcoming bypolls.
This direction of the Election Commission came after the Shinde faction submitted a memorandum, demanding that the election symbol should be allotted to him. The Andheri East bypoll is the first test of the Shinde faction’s popularity among the masses, when the Thackeray camp won the first court battle to hold its Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, a traditional army site. The Chief Minister was to organize his camp program at the MMRDA ground in Bandra Kurla Complex.
Uddhav, who is technically still the Shiv Sena chief, has been collecting affidavits of support from party members to cement his position. He aims to collect over five lakh affidavits as the Election Commission also considers support from party units.
In a letter to Thackeray on Friday, the Election Commission directed his faction to submit the comments along with necessary documents by 2 pm on October 8. The Election Commission told Thackeray that the Shinde faction had claimed ‘bow and arrow’ on October 4. The information about the Andheri East by-election was given on Friday.
The Thackeray group has decided to field Rutuja Latte, widow of MLA Ramesh Latte, for the Andheri East by-election. Shinde faction’s ally BJP has decided to field BMC councilor Murji Patel for the by-elections that were held due to the death of Ramesh Latte. The Congress and the NCP have decided to extend support to the candidate of the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, their alliance partner in the MVA.
EC’s order ‘injustice’, says Thackeray camp
The Thackeray faction termed the EC order as “injustice”. Leader of the Opposition in the state Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said the election body should have taken the decision in a holistic manner instead of passing an interim decision for the bypolls, which are loyal to the Thackeray camp. “This is injustice,” he said. PTI,
According to the interim order of the Election Commission, both the Thackeray and Shinde factions will not be able to use the party’s name and symbol in the by-elections. The commission has asked them to suggest three name options and several free symbols for their groups by October 10. The Commission may allot names and symbols to both the groups from the options presented.
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