Shock to Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde faction got 'Shiv Sena' name and 'Dhanush-Baan' symbol

Eknath Shinde Group As Official Shiv Sena: Eknath Shinde rebelled against Thackeray's leadership in June last year, claiming he has the support of 40 of the Sena's 56 MLAs and 13 of its 18 Lok Sabha members.

Shock to Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde faction got 'Shiv Sena' name and 'Dhanush-Baan' symbol

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray suffered a major setback on Friday. The Election Commission today ordered that the party name 'Shiv Sena' and its symbol 'Dhanush-Baan' will be retained by the Eknath Shinde faction. In its order today, the Election Commission said, “The Election Commission of India finds that the present constitution of Shiv Sena is undemocratic. It has been distorted to undemocratically appoint people of a faction as office bearers without any elections. Such a party structure fails to inspire confidence.”
The rival factions of Shiv Sena had completed their arguments before the Election Commission on 20 January. Both parties submitted thousands of documents to the Commission over eight months to support their claims and argued their respective cases before the Election Commission on three occasions.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde claimed before the Election Commission that he had the support of 40 of the Shiv Sena's 56 MLAs and 13 of its 18 Lok Sabha members.
It may be noted that Eknath Shinde rebelled against the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in June last year, after which the Shiv Sena split into two factions. After this rebellion, the Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra fell and Shinde became the chief minister of the state with the support of the BJP.
After this the Shinde group claimed the Shiv Sena and started a legal battle with the Election Commission and the country's top court, calling itself the real Shiv Sena. Then the Election Commission allotted 'Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray' and torch symbol to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, while the Eknath Shinde faction was allotted 'Balasahebbanchi Shiv Sena' and shield-sword symbol.
The Election Commission passed an interim order on 8 October, restraining both camps from using the 'Shiv Sena' party name and its symbol. The commission had said in the order that until it is decided which of the two rival factions is the real Shiv Sena, the ban on the use of the party's name and symbol would remain in force.