Explained: In Sena vs Sena battle, why Uddhav Thackeray gets flaming torch symbol and not the trishul

What’s in a name? A lot if you are a political party gearing up to fight an election. After 55 years, the Shiv Sena, as we know it, ceased to exist for the time being as the Election Commission allotted the two squabbling party factions — the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde groups — different versions of the original nomenclature. The Uddhav Thackeray faction will be the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray while the Eknath Shinde faction will be called Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena) . The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction also received a new symbol — the ‘mashaal (flaming torch)’ — after the poll body had frozen the famous ‘bow and arrow’ symbol on Saturday. The EC has also asked the Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde bloc to submit three fresh preferences for the symbol by Tuesday. We take a look at how the Election Commission decided on the flaming torch for the Uddhav-led group and its shared history with the Shiv Sena. Flaming torch not the first choice After the Election Commission passed an interim order freezing the name and party symbol of the Shiv Sena on Saturday, ahead of the high-stakes by-election in Mumbai’s Andheri (East) constituency, Uddhav Thackeray had submitted his group’s preferences for the party symbol as well as their names. Uddhav had chosen Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackeray), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Prabodhankar Thackeray), in order of preference for names of his group. When it came to symbols, the faction had chosen the trishul (trident), a rising sun and mashaal (torch), in order of preference, as its alternates.

निवडणूक आयोगाच्या आदेशानुसार तात्काळ तीन चिन्हं आपण दिली आहेत. एक आहे त्रिशूळ, दुसरं उगवता सूर्य, तिसरं धगधगती मशाल. तात्पुरती नावं ही आपण दिली आहे, पाहिलं नाव आहे शिवसेना बाळासाहेब ठाकरे, दुसरं नाव शिवसेना बाळासाहेब प्रबोधनकार ठाकरे आणि तिसरं आहे शिवसेना उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे. pic.twitter.com/9fasAATzIJ

— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) October 9, 2022

Notably, neither of these three options were listed as free symbols by the Election Commission on their website. However, Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister of Maharashtra in a four-page letter to the Election Commission, wrote that the party should be allotted the trishul (trident) even if it is not in the list of free symbols, adding that it is not used by any recognised state or national party. **Also read: A look at how parties are allocated symbols for elections** Why no trishul or rising sun? According to reports, the Election Commission rejected Thackeray and Shinde’s first preference ‘trishul’ (trident) and Shinde’s third preference ‘gada’ (mace). Earlier, the Maharashtra chief minister had submitted the ‘trident’, ‘rising sun’, and ‘mace’ to the Election Commission as it’s choices for the party symbol. However, both sides’ preference of the trident was rejected by the poll body owing to the religious connotation attached to it. Shinde’s choice of the mace was also rejected by the Election Commission because it was a religious symbol. The ‘rising sun’ symbol, which both sides had also submitted as a preference, was also rejected by the EC as it already allocated to Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). [caption id=“attachment_11423231” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] After the EC’s allocation, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction shared its new name and symbol on its Twitter page. Image Courtesy: @ShivSena/Twitter[/caption] Flaming torch and its history On Monday, the Uddhav Thackeray faction was allotted the flaming torch symbol for its Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray. The EC order noted that the flaming torch was once allocated to the Samata Party, which was derecognised in 2004 and declared it as a free symbol and then allocated it to the Uddhav faction. However, the flaming torch symbol has old ties with the Shiv Sena. In 1985, before the ‘bow and arrow’ was finalised as the Sena’s symbol, the party had won an election on the flaming torch figure. Chhagan Bhujbal , the lone Sena MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly back then, had won from Mumbai’s Mazgaon constituency with the flaming torch symbol. At the time, the Sena was not a registered or recognised political party and hence, the candidates had contested as independents and were allotted various symbols. Bhujbal, who is now in the Nationalist Congress Party, told the Indian Express: “I had chosen the flaming torch because it was a symbol of revolution and a symbolism which showed a new path to the people of Maharashtra.” He added that in those days the Sena didn’t have money and a lot of the campaigning was based on wall painting and writings. The flaming torch was extremely easy to draw and steered Bhujbal to victory. Shiv Sena’s senior leader Sanjay Raut, an accused in the Patra Chawl scam case , on Monday said a new election symbol for the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction could bring a “big revolution” in the coming days. While being presented in court as his judicial custody expired, Raut, a staunch Uddhav loyalist, said, “The new symbol for Shiv Sena (Thackeray camp) could bring a big revolution for the party. And though the EC may have barred the Sena from using the party’s name for now the soul of the party remains.” With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.