Mumbai: Shiv Sena's election symbol Arrow-bow and the party's name has been snatched from the Uddhav faction. The Shinde faction has succeeded in capturing it. On the one hand, the Shinde group is calling it a victory of democracy, while the Uddhav group has termed it as a pre-planned decision. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar has refused to speak anything on this issue.
On Sunday, the NCP chief said that he would not get involved in the ongoing controversy in the state over the issue of bow and arrow being given to the Shinde faction. Sharad Pawar said, 'I have made my stand clear on this.' Talking about Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit, Pawar said, "He had come to Pune for the function of the Cooperative Council. I inaugurated the cooperative council. That's why there is no quarrel between us. We have had detailed discussions on policy issues. The points of his speech seemed appropriate today.'' Earlier, Sharad Pawar had said that losing the symbol of bow and arrow would not make any difference to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena as people would accept its new symbol. Sharad Pawar has called for recognizing the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and calling it the original 'bow and arrow'.
Sharad Pawar also reminded that the Indira Gandhi-led Congress had to choose a new election symbol in 1978, but it did not harm the party. The NCP chief had advised the Thackeray faction, 'Once the decision is taken there cannot be any discussion. Accept it, and get a new election symbol. It is not going to have any effect.' He reminded that Indira Gandhi had also faced a similar situation after the Emergency. In its 78-page decision, the Election Commission said that Shinde's faction has a majority in the Legislative Assembly as well as in the organization. Before the Commission, both parties presented their respective claims and documents for their confirmation. Out of the total 55 victorious MLAs who won on a unified Shiv Sena ticket near the Eknath Shinde faction, 40 are MLAs. 76 percent of the total 47,82,440 votes in the party means 36,57, Shinde faction presented the documents of 327 votes in its favor. The Uddhav Thackeray faction claiming family legacy as well as political legacy on Shiv Sena could present documentary proof of only 11,25,113 votes out of 15 MLAs and total of 47,82,440 votes. That is, only 23.5 percent of votes were with the Thackeray group. The Thackeray faction had the support of only 15 of Shiv Sena's total 55 MLAs.
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