Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena moves SC against EC decision

The Uddhav Thackeray faction on Monday approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission recognising the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordering allocation of the "bow and arrow" poll symbol to it.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for an early listing of the Thackeray-led Sena faction's petition.

The CJI, however, refused to pass any order.

"The rule applies equally to all, whether left, right or centre. Come tomorrow through proper process," the bench said.

The Election Commission on Friday had recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered the allocation of the "bow and arrow" poll symbol to it.

In a 78-page order on the protracted battle for control of the organisation, the Commission allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly by-polls in the state.

The Commission said MLAs backing Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of the winning Shiv Sena candidates, the three-member Commission said.