Uddhav faction alleges bias in allocation of symbol, name
New Delhi, October 13
Amid a tussle for control over the Shiv Sena with the group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Uddhav Thackey camp today wrote to the Election Commission accusing it of “bias” in the allocation of party symbols and name to his faction.
Questions poll panel’s actions
Several communications and the actions of the commission have given rise to a serious apprehension of bias in the mind of respondent. Letter to EC by Uddhav camp
“Several communications and the actions of the commission have given rise to a serious apprehension of bias in the mind of the respondent,” the Thackeray camp said in a letter to the EC through its lawyer Vivek Singh.
Last week, the commission had barred the rival factions of the Shiv Sena from using the party name and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, pending the settlement of the dispute over the “real Shiv Sena”.
Earlier this week, the commission had allotted ‘Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ as the name and ‘flaming torch’ as the election symbol to the Thackeray faction.
The Shinde faction got the name ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ and ‘two swords and a shield’ as the election symbol.
Vivek Singh contended that the EC did not grant the party adequate time to file its reply on Shinde’s claims to the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol for the Andheri East bypoll in Maharashtra.
The Thackeray faction also alleged that the EC had uploaded its letter conveying the preference for poll symbols and party names on the poll authority’s website, making it accessible to everyone, including the rival faction.
“This was done even before a decision was taken by the commission regarding allocation of symbols and possibly even before the petitioner had submitted his own list of proposed symbols and names, thus giving the petitioner and his group a clear unfair advantage over the respondent,” Singh said, while claiming that the Shinde faction had “very tellingly” given the same first choice of name, and the same first and second choice of the symbol as of the Thackeray faction.
The Election Commission’s letter allotting the ‘flaming torch’ to the Thackeray faction did not carry the image of the poll symbol, while the letter to the Shinde faction contained a large pictorial representation of the ‘two swords and a shield’ poll symbol, the letter said, while adding: “The same is again giving an unfair advantage to the petitioner”.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Mumbai civic body to accept the resignation of Rutuja Latke, paving the way for her to file nomination for the Andheri (East) byelection as the candidate of the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray. The last date of nomination is October 14.
