After the Supreme court upheld the Election Commission's (EC) right to decide on the name and the party symbol for the two factions of the Shiv Sena — one led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the other by Uddhav Thackeray — both factions have now submitted the necessary documents and affidavits for the poll body to decide on the dispute.
Ahead of the bypolls in Andheri East on 3 November, the last date of filing nominations for which is 14 October, the Shinde camp had urged the EC to expedite the process and had submitted all the documents and affidavits of support of party workers on 4 October. The Thackeray faction, as per the request by the EC on Friday, 7 October, submitted the necessary documents on Saturday along with a response to the claims made by the Shinde faction.
This is not the first time a major Indian political party is going through a split.
1969 - Congress split into two factions led by Jagjeevan Ram and S Nijalingappa following which S Nijalinappa got to keep the party symbol.
2017 - AIADMK split into a battle between VK Sasikala and N Palaniswami vs O Pannerselvam. The two factions split and took new names and symbols. But Sasikala was eventually jailed, the two factions reunited, and got the original two leaves symbol back.
2017 - Samajwad Party split with a war between Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav but the Election Commission ruled in the favour of Akhilesh who has been the party chief ever since.
2021 - Lok Janshakti Party split with Chirag Paswan vs Pashupati Paras. The party split for good with both factions now using new, modified names and new party symbols.
As it did in all these cases, the EC in Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde war will refer to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, Paragraph 15, which primarily looks at the majority that each of the factions enjoy.
HOW IS THE MAJORITY ASCERTAINED?
The EC looks at party's constitutional framework and identifies the list of office-bearers officially registered and ascertains how many of them are supporting which faction.
The EC also looks at how many elected MPs and MLAs of the party are supporting which faction.
Both these factors are ascertained on the basis of the affidavits filed by the office-bearers and the elected MPs and MLAs.
WHAT IF THE MAJORITY IS CLEAR?
The faction with the majority may be allowed to get the party symbol and name, while the smaller faction can be allowed to register as a separate party with a new name and symbol.
WHAT IF THE MAJORITY IS NOT CLEAR?
The EC can freeze the party’s symbol and allow the rival factions to register themselves with new or modified versions of the existing party name.
HOW LONG DOES THE EC TAKE TO DECIDE?
If there is an election coming up and the commission doesn't have enough time, the EC may temporarily freeze the party’s symbol and ask the groups to fight the elections in different and temporary names and symbols. But if there isn't any urgency, the process can take its course.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TWO FACTIONS UNITE IN THE FUTURE?
They can prove their unity before the commission and stake claim to the original name and symbol.
Thackeray or Shinde? Who Has an Upper Hand?
Eknath Shinde has the support of at least 40/55 MLAs and 12/19 MPs of the Shiv Sena.
In the Lok Sabha, Shinde faction's Rahul Shevale has been identified as the leader of the party in the house. He is also being backed by majority of the corporators of several civic bodies including Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Dombivali. So, when it comes to the legislative aspect of it, it looks like advantage Shinde.
But, the real challenge is to prove the majority of the office-bearers and party members. Ever since the SC verdict, both factions began serious documentation work - enrolling new members, affidavits by loyalists, efforts to reach out to the members of the rival camps - are reportedly underway.
In the documents submitted to the EC on 4 October, the Shinde faction has reportedly claimed support of over one lakh party workers. Meanwhile, the Thackeray faction has cited the appointment of Thackeray as the party president in 2018 for a period of five years and said that his position remains unchallenged as per the Shiv Sena's existing party by-laws and framework.
The Thackeray faction has also reportedly told the EC that the Shinde faction had no right to claim the party's symbol since all of them had automatically given up the party membership in June, after they defied the party's leadership's orders. Yesterday we filed our preliminary reply& today also we filed a reply.
Advocate S Jain, representing the Thackeray faction, told the media that he submitted affidavits of the national executives and more than 2.5 lakh more affidavits of party workers will be submitted within due course.
Weeks after starting the rebellion, Shinde laid down a new structural framework, while the Thackeray faction keeps following the existing Sena framework with him as the president. Both factions are claiming the support of 'majority' of the party workers on paper, both have made several new appointments as office-bearers ever since the split, but whose side will be considered legit, that is for the Election Commission to decide.
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