Bow and arrow: Uddhav, Shinde battle over Shiv Sena's good luck charm
After toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra in a dramatic fashion, the stage is set for another battle between Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and new chief minister Eknath Shinde — this time over the party’s election symbol of bow and arrow.
The Shinde faction seems eager to cement its position as “The Real Shiv Sena” by taking over sole usage of the party’s official poll symbol.
However, after being blindsided by Shinde’s timely coup, the Uddhav camp now looks on guard lest they get caught napping once again.
Senior Shiv Sena politician Subhas Desai (Uddhav’s confidant) filed a caveat in the Election Commission of India (EC) earlier this week, with a plea asking the election body to hear its side before passing any ex-parte order on the bow and arrow symbol.
The caveat filed by the Uddhav faction comes on heels of Eknath Shinde being appointed Shiv Sena’s Legislature Party Leader and Bharata Gogawale as the new chief whip, replacing Ajay Chaudhari and Sunil Prabhu.
Addressing the media at his residence, ‘Matoshree’, in suburban Bandra last week, Uddhav Thackeray had said: “According to the law, no one can take away the bow and arrow symbol from Shiv Sena. I am saying this after talking to Constitutional experts.”
Thackeray’s statement came after party leader, Gulabrao Patil, said earlier in the week that the faction led Shinde was the real heir to the party’s bow and arrow symbol.
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According to the Elections Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Election Commission of India is the final arbitrator on which faction gets to keep the party symbol.
History of Shiv Sena and its ‘bow and arrow’ symbol
The party was founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966, but it wasn’t until 1984-85 that it started using the bow and arrow symbol as its official poll symbol.
The symbol was used for the coveted BMC elections in Mumbai, which the party went on to win for the very first time, thereby creating a belief that the symbol was a lucky charm for the party.
During the same year, Shiv Sena also contested the Lok Sabha election under the BJP’s symbol, the lotus.
It is important to remember that during its initial years, the Sena didn’t identify as a political party, but more as an organisation working towards uplift of the ‘Marathi Manoos.’
During this period, it (Sena) was identified by the “roaring tiger” logo, which still continues to be prominently displayed across shakhas and party posters. It is an imagery that people across Maharashtra have for long associated with Balasaheb Thackeray and his Shiv Sena.
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In 1984, Sena contested the Lok Sabha election under the BJP’s symbol, the lotus. Officially though, the party’s election symbol has been the bow and arrow for over 30 years.
‘What is Shinde group’s identity?’ asks Uddhav
When Eknath Shinde was away in Assam with his combine of rebel MLAs in the last week of June, chatter emerged that the group would be naming itself as “Shiv Sena Balasaheb.”
On June 25, while addressing party leaders at its national executive committee meeting being held at Shiv Sena Bhavan, Thackeray said: “They (rebels) can do whatever they want, I won’t interfere in their matters. They can take their own decision, but no one should use Balasaheb’s name.”
When asked what made their faction confident that the EC would hear their side of the story when Shinde has majority MLAs on his (the SC has refused to hold an urgent hearing on the disqualification notices moved by Uddhav’s camp against the rebel MLAs), Shiv Sena spokesperson (Thackeray faction) told The Federal: “What is their (rebel group’s) identity today? They don’t have a name, they are just referring to themselves as the ‘Shinde group’. They have not registered as a party nor have they officially merged with another party. On what grounds will EC recognise them as the real Shiv Sena?”