The Election Commission on Friday ordered that the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena will get the official name of Shiv Sena and the bow-arrow symbol of the Balasaheb Thackeray party, amid an ongoing tussle between the Shinde faction and the Uddhav Thackeray faction over these rights. Following the rebellion spearheaded by Eknath Shinde which resulted in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray government, the two factions have been staking a claim on the Shiv Sena name and the original symbol of the bow and arrow. As the issue was pending with the election commission, the bow and arrow symbol was frozen. For the bypoll, the two factions were allotted two different symbols — Shinde faction two swords and a shield, Uddhav faction flaming torch.
`This is a big day for us. We have been saying that the decision will be taken because of merit. We have been saying that we are real Shiv Sena. Now, a lot of Shiv Sena (UBT) men will come to us because we have the symbol and the party name to get the winning edge,” Sheetal Mhatre, Eknah faction spokesperson said.
