The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena on Sunday termed the Election Commission’s order barring the rival factions of the party from using the party name and election symbol (bow and arrow) in the Andheri East assembly bypoll as “injustice.”
The Uddhav faction will propose three new symbol choices for upcoming Andheri East bypoll. According to sources, Uddhav has chosen a trishul, a rising sun, and a flame torch as three options.
As per the EC’s interim order, both the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions would not be able to use the party name and election symbol in the bypoll in Mumbai on November 3.
The commission asked them to suggest by Monday three name choices for their groups, and also as many free symbols, after which it will allocate the name and the symbol to both factions from the options submitted.
The November 3 bypoll to the Andheri East constituency in suburban Mumbai is the first electoral test for the Thackeray group after the split in the party in June this year, leading to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
Interestingly, the upcoming contest is between the Thackeray-led faction and BJP. The Shinde group is not contesting.
The BJP, an ally of the Shinde faction, has decided to field Murji Patel, a corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, for the bypoll necessitated due to the death of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke.
The Congress and the NCP have decided to support the late Latke’s wife Rujuta Latke, the candidate of the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, their coalition partner in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
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