MUMBAI: The Election Commission has asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to submit the requisite papers by Saturday noon to prove itself as the real Sena. Anil Desai, who belongs to the Thackeray faction, said the party would respond within the stipulated time. The ECI move came following the announcement of a by-election to the Andheri-East seat on November 3
The Uddhav faction had sought 15 days to submit its reply, saying it was yet to receive a copy of the rival group’s claim. However, the ECI refused to grant more time, saying it had given the Uddhav group the required copy of the counter-claim on October 4. According to the ECI, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has claimed the Shiv Sena’s party symbol — bow and arrow — and submitted relevant documents.
The ECI in its letter to Uddhav stated that Chirag Shah, advocate on Shinde’s behalf, had submitted the application under paragraph 18 of Elections Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) order 1968. If Thackeray fails to submit the documents on time, the ECI will take its own decision over this dispute, it said. The Shinde group’s documents to the ECI claim the support of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs out of the total 56, plus 12 Lok Sabha MPs of the party out of 19. It also claims to have 1.66 lakh primary members of the party to justify its claim over the poll symbol.
However, the Uddhav faction has claimed that it has over 70 per cent representative members of the party on its side. As per the Shiv Sena’s constitution, this representative body has a major say in the party’s decision-making. It said out of 260 members, 160 of the representative body are with the Uddhav-led faction. It also claims that over 10 lakh official members of Shiv Sena have given affidavits of their support.
The Shinde group has extended its support to BJP candidate Urji Patel in Andheri East assembly bypoll. However, in its submission with the ECI, it says the group will contest the Andheri East seat, and therefore, will need the party symbol. Thus the Shinde move appears aimed at either freezing the party symbol for the Uddhav-led Sena before the by-election or claim it permanently. In both cases, Uddhav’s candidate for the by-election will have to use a different symbol.
Gulabrao Patil, a Shinde group minister, expressed confidence that the group would get the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol. He said the crowd at the faction’s Dussehra rally proved who the real Shiv Sena is.
“In a democracy the numbers are important and at present, we have the numbers. The ECI cannot ignore the majority support that we have,” Patil said.
Anil Desai, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha member, said as per documents and the party constitution, the Uddhav-led faction is the real Shiv Sena. “We have regularly submitted documents in our support. The ECI can work out of the framework of the constitutional guidelines. The ECI is an independent body so it has to follow the conventions and law,” Desai said.
The Uddhav group has also argued that Shinde left the party voluntarily, so he cannot claim to represent the real Shiv Sena. “It is unfortunate that Balasaheb Thackeray’s son, who is the president of the party, has to prove that his faction is a real Shiv Sena,” said a party leader.
