The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena will now be known as Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and its new party symbol will be the torch. This was announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) today.
The faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be called Balasahebachi Shiv Sena (Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena), ECI said.
The Shinde faction is yet to be allotted a party symbol as ECI has asked the party to provide three fresh options. Earlier, the gada (blunt mace) and the trishul (trident), proposed by the Shinde faction, were rejected by ECI as they were religious symbols.
Earlier today, Uddhav Thackeray had challenged the Election Commission’s freeze on the Shiv Sena symbol and name in the middle of a tussle between rival factions over which is the “real” Shiv Sena.
The former Maharashtra Chief Minister had approached the Delhi High Court against Saturday’s order, alleging that the party’s name and symbol were frozen without a hearing, which he said went “against principles of natural justice”.
The ECI had asked team Thackeray and the rival Eknath Shinde faction to choose new names and symbols for the November 3 byelection in Mumbai’s Andheri East constituency.