India News | Shiv Sena Symbol Dispute Case: Both Factions Conclude Arguments

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions on Friday concluded their arguments before the Election Commission, with both asserting that they are the real Shiv Sena.

At the end of the hearing, the commission said the two sides can submit their written submissions, if any, by January 30, sources and counsels from the factions said.

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Both the sides had submitted thousands of documents to the poll panel over months to support their claim and argued their respective cases before it on three occasions, including Friday.

Shinde walked out of the Shiv Sena in June last year to become the chief minister of Maharashtra with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government.

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The Shinde and Thackeray factions of the Sena have been locked in a battle for the control of the organisation since then.

In November last year, the Election Commission (EC) had asked the Sena factions to submit fresh documents to back their claim to the party's name and poll symbol.

The commission had also asked them to exchange the documents submitted to it with each other.

In an interim order in October, the commission had barred the two factions from using the party name or its "bow-and-arrow" symbol.

Later, it had allotted "Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray" as the party name for the Thackeray faction and "Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena" (Balasaheb's Shiv Sena) as the name for the Shinde group.

The EC had said the interim order will be in force "till the final determination of the dispute".

Shinde had rebelled against Thackeray's leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the 56 MLAs of the Shiv Sena and 13 of its 18 Lok Sabha members.

Following Thackeray's resignation as the Maharashtra chief minister, Shinde was appointed to the top post with the support of the BJP.

Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Order provides for the hearing of representatives of sections or groups as desired to be heard.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)