In the latest development in the ongoing tussle to be the 'real' Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde faction has staked claim to the bow and arrow symbol of Shiv Sena.
Following Shinde faction's claim, the Election Commission (EC) has asked the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena to respond by Saturday.
The EC's directive came on Friday after the Shinde faction submitted a memorandum seeking it be allocated the symbol as the Andheri East assembly bypoll is approaching.
In a letter to Thackeray, the EC directed it to furnish comments along with requisite documents latest by 2 pm on October 8.
"In case no reply is received, the Commission will take appropriate action in the matter accordingly," said the EC.
Uddhav faction leader Anil Desai said the party would respond to the Commission within the stipulated time.
Shinde along with the majority of Sena's MLA rebelled in June against the then-Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav, leading to the fall of his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coaliton, which also comprised Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Since then, the party has been divided into two factions led by Shinde and Uddhav and both are competing to be the 'real' Sena.
In a separate matter, the Shinde faction has claimed to be the "real Shiv Sena", citing support of majority members of the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
The fresh claim to the 'bow and arrow' election symbol by the Shinde faction is seen as an attempt to deny its use by the Uddhav faction which has decided to field Rutuja Latke, the widow of MLA Ramesh Latke, for the November 3 bypoll.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of the Shinde faction, has decided to field Murji Patel, a corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), for the bypoll necessitated due to the death of Ramesh Latke.
The Congress and the NCP have decided to support the candidate of the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, their coalition partner in the MVA.
The Andheri East bypoll is the first after Shinde and the BJP unseated the MVA government in June, and is considered by political analysts as a precursor to settling of claims by Shinde and Thackeray to be the "real Shiv Sena".
Following the EC's letter, NDTV reported that Uddhav faction has replied and said Shinde faction cannot claim the bow-an-arrow symbol as he and other MLAs in his camp had "voluntarily quit the party".
(With PTI inputs)
