The Election Commission of India ordered that the Eknath Shinde faction will get the party name Shiv Sena and the party’s symbol of the bow and arrow.
The Eknath Shinde faction will get the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party symbol of bow and arrow
By Aishwarya Paliwal: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday allotted that the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party symbol of bow and arrow will be retained by the Eknath Shinde faction. The ECI said the Shinde faction had the support.
Two factions emerged in the party when Eknath Shinde staged a coup in June 2022. The party was divided between the supporters of Uddhav Thackeray and Ekanth Shinde. Shinde’s coup led to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra and the dethroning of Uddhav Thackeray as the CM. Shinde was later sworn in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
The two sides have been at loggerheads with each other to be recognised as the ‘real Shiv Sena’. They had approached the Election Commission of India to stake claim over the party’s name and symbol.
In October 2022, the Election Commission froze the unified Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol and gave different names and symbols to the two factions. The Shinde faction was given the name Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena) with two swords and shields as the party symbol. Meanwhile, the Uddhav faction was given the name ShivSena – Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the mashaal as its symbol.
