EC Asks Sena Factions to Submit Documents on Dispute by November 23

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 16th Nov. The Election Commission has asked Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray to submit new documents by November 23 to support their claim to the party’s name and symbol.

In a letter sent to both factions on November 12, the poll panel also asked them to exchange the documents they had submitted to the poll panel, with each other as well.

If no response is received, the EC will assume that they have nothing new to say on the matter and will proceed with the case, including setting a date for a personal hearing.

The Commission had issued an interim order in October prohibiting the two factions from using the party’s name or the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol.

Later, it designated ‘ShivSena – Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ as the Thackeray faction’s party name, and ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ (Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena) as the party name for the Eknath Shinde faction.

The EC stated that the interim order will be in effect “until the final determination of the dispute.”

Shinde had defied Thackeray’s leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs and 12 of its 18 Lok Sabha members.

Shinde became chief minister with the support of the BJP after Thackeray resigned as chief minister of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition.