The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction of the Shiv Sena to respond to a plea led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray in the dispute over the right to party name and symbol. The court, however, refused an interim stay on the Election Commission's order which gave the Shinde faction control of the Shiv Sena.

The court has observed that it cannot stay the order at this stage as the Shinde faction had succeeded before the EC already.

Thackeray in his petition is challenging the Election Commission's decision to recognise the faction led by Shinde as the "real" Shiv Sena and allocating them the name and bow and arrow symbol.

The Shinde faction has given an undertaking before the apex court that they will not proceed ahead with the disqualification proceedings against Thackeray camp MLAs/MPs. They will produce their counter affidavit on the court's orders in two weeks.

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The rival factions led by Shinde and Thackeray have been locked in legal battles over the control of the Shiv Sena since the EC's decision last week.

The Election Commission of India a few days back had recognized Eknath Shinde group as official "Shiv Sena," allowing them to use the official "bow and arrow" symbol and “Shiv Sena” name and the Uddhav Thackeray faction has been given the name "Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)" and the symbol "flaming torch" for the upcoming by-elections in the Maharashtra assembly.

Sanjay Raut of the UBT side even alleged that the chief minister's group had struck a Rs 2,000 crore deal with the EC for a favourable decision.

At their first national executive meeting on Tuesday evening, the Shiv Sena party decided that the media should do away with the "Shinde camp" name and that the CM would remain the "chief leader."

Shinde's revolt against Thackeray's leadership last June brought down the Thackeray-led Sena-Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra.

Also read: Call us Shiv Sena, says Shinde group, declares Maha CM as chief leader

(Edited by : Ayushi Agarwal)

First Published:Feb 22, 2023 4:35 PM IST