EC allots new names to Uddhav and Shinde's Sena; former gets 'mashaal' as symbol

Amid the political tug-of-war and slugfest between the two warring Shiv Sena factions, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday cleared Uddhav Thackeray’s request of a new party name, allotting it the name 'Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)', while Eknath Shinde’s faction was allotted the name 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena'.

Ahead of the by-elections in Andheri East, the ECI on Monday allotted the new names.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has been allotted the 'Mashaal' (Flaming Torch) symbol.

The Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’s proposed symbols, however, have not been accepted and they have been given time till Tuesday morning to submit a fresh list of three symbols.

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As far as the two factions' names were concerned, the Uddhav-led group had requested one of the three names - Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackeray), Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Prabodhankar Thackeray) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). For its symbols, the faction had made three suggestions, namely the Trishool (Trident), Rising Sun, and Mashaal (Flaming Torch).

The Shinde-faction had submitted three names for consideration — 'Balasaheb Thackeray', 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena', and 'Shiv Sena Balasahebanchi' — as well as the three symbols — Trishool (Trident), Rising Sun, and Gada (Mace).

The ECI, in two letters to Thackeray and Shinde, respectively, communicated the order.

Trishool, which had been claimed by both sides, was turned down as it has a religious connotation.

The Rising Sun symbol too was denied to both sides as the symbol is reserved for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a political party registered in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

For the Thackeray-group, the third symbol, Mashaal was cleared.

However, for Shinde-faction, 'Gada' was turned down as it has a religious connotation.