New Delhi: Election Commission of India announced that the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party symbol ‘Bow and Arrow’ will be used by the Eknath Shinde faction. ECI also made several observations about Shiv Sena’s constitutions and also labelled it as ‘undemocratic’. The commission criticised the party structure and called out the undemocratic appointment of people from a particular circle as office bearers without any elections.
ECI also observed that the party constitution was amended in 2018 and has not been given to the Election Commission of India. It added that the amendments brought by the Late Balasaheb Thackeray at the insistence of the Commission restrict the introduction of democratic norms in the Party Constitution of 1999. It was observed that these amendments were not accepted by the commission back then and were reintroduced in a ‘surreptitious manner’ and raised concern over ‘fiefdom’ in the party.
The Election Commission suggested parties maintain democratic ethos within the inner-functioning as well.
Earlier, ECI passed the interim order during the Andheri East by-polls, that neither of the two groups will be using the symbol “Bow and Arrow”. Uddhav Thackeray moved to Delhi High Court against the ECI’s decision to freeze the symbol, but the plea was dismissed by the court.
Last year, Eknath Shinde and a few Shiv Sena MLAs separated themselves from the then Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. The Shinde faction shook hands with BJP and formed the government in Maharashtra, where Shinde became the new CM of the state while BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as his deputy.
