Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has approached the Delhi High Court today seeking a stay on the order which was passed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) freezing the bow and arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray has also filed an alternate prayer for allotting his candidates the symbol chosen by them for the upcoming bypolls rather than restricting them to the three choices given by ECI.
Both the factions of Sena, the one led by Uddhav Thackeray and the other by Eknath Shinde, have laid claim to the party name and symbol but the poll body in its interim order of October 8 has restrained both camps from using the Shiv Sena until it decides which among them is rightful claimant.
The restriction will apply for the upcoming bypolls in the State
The order which was was passed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey stated: None of the two factions led by Sh. Eknathrao Sambhaji Shinde (Petitioner) and other led by Sh. Uddhav Thackeray (Respondent) shall be be permitted to use the name of the party “Shivsena”.
Both the factions shall not be permitted to use the symbol “Bow & Arrow”, reserved for “Shivsena’
The order however gave both the groups option to choose symbols from the list of free symbols notified by the Election Commission for the purposes of the current bye-elections.
The order was passed on a plea by the Shinde faction seeking decision on which is the real Shiv Sena – the Shinde camp or the Thackeray camp.