On the occasion of the Andheri by-election, the conflict between the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions in the state reached an extreme. In the wake of this election, the Election Commission has frozen the Shiv Sena name and the bow and arrow symbol and given new names and symbols to both groups. Meanwhile, the Thackeray group has written a letter to the Election Commission (EC) and has made some serious allegations. The Thackeray group has alleged that the EC has exposed their strategy and has written a 12-point letter to the Election Commission.
The Election Commission on Monday gave the election symbol 'Mashaal' to the Thackeray group and the 'Shield-Talwar' symbol to the Shinde group. Also, the Commission has allotted new party names 'Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray' to the Thackeray group and 'Bala Saheb's Shiv Sena' to the Shinde group.
Allegation Made By Thackeray Group
The Thackeray group has alleged that the allocation of names and party symbols is biased towards the opposite side. The Thackeray group has written a letter to the Election Commission and 12 points have been raised in it. The Thackeray group has alleged bias in the decision taken by the Election Commission. The letter criticized the functioning of the commission.
12 points Letter
We have given options to the Election Commission for the party name and symbol which were intentionally placed on the website. This made the Shinde group understand our strategy. Otherwise, how are the options on both sides the same? The Thackeray group has asked for this. Thackeray's group's lawyer Vivek Singh has handed over this letter to the Election Commission. The Thackeray group had given options to the Election Commission such as 'Trishul', 'Rising Sun' and 'Mashaal'. The alternatives given by the Shinde group also include the first two symbols. Apart from this, there is a similarity in the options given for the party name. Both groups gave 'Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray' an option.
The Election Commission had given the election symbol 'Mashaal' to the Thackeray group on Monday. Earlier, the Shinde group had submitted three alternative symbols, 'Trishul', 'Rising Sun' and 'Gada' to the Commission. The symbol 'rising sun' was not on the open list, the symbols 'trident' and 'mace' had religious references. Moreover, the 'trishul' symbol was also given as an alternative by the Thackeray group. Therefore, the commission rejected all the three options given by the Shinde group and asked to give them three new options on Tuesday. Accordingly, out of the given symbols, the Commission has allotted the 'Shield-Sword' symbol to the Shinde group.
