Explained: The protest against poll symbols allotted to Shinde and Uddhav Shiv Sena factions

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde may have hailed the Election Commission of India’s decision to grant his faction of the Shiv Sena the ‘two swords and a shield’ symbol, but it may soon become a headache for him – especially since a former gurudwara board secretary has taken exception to it and written to the poll body.

Meanwhile, the Samata Party has raised its objection over the `flaming torch’ symbol allotted to the Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The EC held last week that the two groups would not be able to use the Sena’s `Bow and Arrow’ symbol following the split.

Speaking to reporters last week, Shinde said the first choice was ‘the sun’ but that the ‘two swords and a shield’ symbol was associated with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and also the old Sena.

“Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena is the Shiv Sena of the common man. We accept this decision of the EC. We had given priority to the ‘sun’ symbol, but it approved swords and shield. This is the symbol of the old Shiv Sena…This is a Maharashtrian symbol. It is the symbol of Chhatrapati Shivaji and his mavalas (soldiers),” Shinde had said.

Two swords and a shield was one of the symbols the Shiv Sena, founded by Bal Thackeray, used in the 1967-68 civic polls in Mumbai and elsewhere.

But why is this happening? Let’s take a closer look:

Ex-Gurudwara secy writes to EC over ‘two swords and shield’

Ranjitsingh Kamthekar, former secretary of Gurudwara Sachkhand Board, Nanded, who is also a local Congress leader, told Hindustan Times the ‘two swords and shield’ symbol is a religious one and that it belongs to the Khalsa panth.

Kamthekar has written to Election Commission (EC) to not allow the symbol as it has religious connotations.

He further said he would consider moving court if the poll body did not respond.

“Our religious Guru, Shri Guru Gobind Singh had set the sword and shield as the religious symbol of the Khalsa panth,” he said.

He added that the EC had cited religious connotations as the reason behind rejecting the trident and mace for these factions.

“I want to bring to the notice of the EC that even the symbol allotted to the Shinde faction too has religious implications. I hope the EC will take note of it,” he said.

Kamthekar added that he would send the poll body a formal letter after meeting with other community members today, as per the report.

Kamthekar has tweeted his message to EC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other politicians.

Samata Party protests flaming torch being allotted to Uddhav faction

This development comes after the Samata Party – an offshoot of the Nitish Kumar-led JDU – objected to the allotment of a mashaal or flaming torch to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

As per The Print, the Samata Party, derecognised by the EC in 2004, had filed a complaint to the Commission over its “original symbol” being assigned to Uddhav’s party.

Samata Party president Uday Mandal told the outlet the mashaal symbol was reserved by the Samata Party, and that it was freed in just a day without informing the party.

“We were not notified by the EC that our reserved symbol was being allocated to another party. We are preparing for Bihar elections in the future and we would need our original symbol,” said Mandal.

He added: “The EC did not respond to our complaint, which was filed two days ago. So now we are approaching the Delhi High Court with a plea to let us retain our original symbol.”

Mandal claimed they fought some state elections after being derecognised.

What do we know about the Samata Party?

As per The Print, the Samata Party was formed by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes in 1994.

In 2003, Fernandes announced its merger with the Janata Dal (United), but the idea was opposed by party MP Brahmanand Mandal.

The party was then derecognised after the Election Commission did not give its assent to the merger.

The Election Commission can derecognise a party if:

• It does not receive at least six per cent of votes or
• Win a minimum of two seats in state elections.

National parties must get six per cent votes and have MLAs in at least four states.

The Shinde faction, now named as ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’, will be able to use the new symbol in the 3 November Andheri East Assembly bypoll if it decides to contest the election, though its ally BJP is likely to field its own candidate against the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s nominee.

The Shinde group had proposed ‘peepal tree’, ‘sword and shield’ and ‘sun’ as its choices.

Shinde faction spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre said the new symbol was a “blessing of Chhatrapati Shivaji” and will defeat “evil powers.”

With inputs from agencies

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