The Election Commission of India (ECI) on February 17 announced that the party name “Shiv Sena” and the symbol of “Bow and Arrow” will be retained by the Eknath Shinde faction. Notably, both factions of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray) have been fighting for the bow and arrow symbol of the party since Shinde (present Maharashtra Chief Minister) revolted against Thackeray last year. The Commission’s ruling had come amid the ongoing dispute between the Uddhav Thackeray camp and rival Eknath Shinde camp.
Reacting on this, Uddhav Thackeray faction spox, Anand Dubey, “The order is what we had suspected. We had been saying that we don't trust the EC. When matter is sub-judice before SC and no final decision has been taken, this haste by EC shows it works as a BJP agent under Central Govt. We condemn this.”