Uddhav Thackeray faction suffers blow in so-called Sena vs Sena fight Election commission of India On Friday, the Eknath Shinde camp was allotted the ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol to pave the way for it to become the ‘real Shiv Sena’.
The order states that the Uddhav Thackeray-led team will still continue to be ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’, whose election symbol will be ‘flaming torch’. The decision came nearly eight months after Shinde toppled Thackeray’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June 2022.
In a 78-page order, the ECI also froze the party name ‘Balasahebchi Shiv Sena’ and the symbol ‘two swords and shields’ allotted to the Shinde faction in October 2022.
“On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission, in exercise of its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution read with Para 15 and 18 of the Emblem Order, 1968, orders that the name of the Party shall be “Shiv Sena” and the Emblem of the Party shall be “Bow and Arrow”. “Shall be maintained by the petitioner faction (Shinde),” the order read.
The election body further directed that the petitioners – Shinde and team – amend the 2018 constitution of the party in line with Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and inter alia, the extant guidelines issued by the Commission on Registration of Political Parties In line with internal democracy.
The Thackeray factions – allocated to ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’ and ‘Flaming Torch’ – were allowed to retain both until the ongoing by-elections for Chinchwad and Kasba Peth constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
‘Forced to rely on majority test’
The order, signed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, said that in the circumstances of the case, the commission was compelled to rely on the test of majority in the legislative wing to adjudicate the present dispute. .
“The basis of recognition of a political party shall be with reference to the percentage of votes polled in the elections to the Legislative Assembly and/or the Lok Sabha and the number of elected members in accordance with the provisions of Para 6A, 6B and 6C of the Symbol Order,” read the order.
The floor test result was clearly in Shinde’s favor – the 40 MLAs supporting him secured 36,57,327 votes out of a total of 47,82,440, which is 76 percent of the votes cast in favor of the 55 victorious MLAs in the 2019 assembly elections. is the percentage.
“This is in contrast to the 11,25,113 votes polled by the 15 MLAs whose support is claimed by the Respondents (Thackeray) – 23.5% of the votes polled in favor of the 55 MLAs,” the order said. It said that against the total 90,49,789 votes polled by Shiv Sena including the defeated candidates in the assembly polls, the 40 MLAs supporting Shinde got 40 per cent of the votes, while the 15 MLAs supporting Thackeray got only 12 of the total votes. The percentages were vote.
Similarly, the 13 MPs supporting Shinde secured 74,88,634 votes out of a total of 1,02,45,143 – 73 per cent of the votes cast in favor of the 18 MPs in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This is in contrast to the 27,56,509 votes polled by the five MPs supporting Thackeray, making it 27 per cent votes in favor of 18 MPs.
“Further, as against 1,25,89,064, of the total votes cast by Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha Elections, 2019 (including the losing candidates), the votes cast by the 13 MPs supporting the petitioner (Shinde) come to 59 per cent, while the votes The five MPs supporting the respondent (Thackeray) (six claimed while only four affidavit) comes to 22%,” the ECI said.
The order also pointed out that while the application of this test in the Sena’s legislative wing had given a clear answer as to which faction enjoys majority support, the application of the test in the organizational wing of the party has been found “indeterminate and non-conclusive”. Delivering Results”.
“Therefore, through a combined and exhaustive reading of all aspects, embedding the outcome of the trials and the democratic imperative that there is a recognizable basis in the factual content of this dispute, the legislative wing is to interpret the outcome of the trial as the basis For, reflects both the fact of division and majority,” the ECI added.
‘Unjust situations often build the party’
The ECI concluded the order by saying that in the absence of democratic internal structures, internal disputes are bound to create rifts and factions, due to which the question is decided by the Election Commission under a symbolic order.
“However, by the time a dispute comes to the commission, the constitution of the party is often seen as perverted by undemocratically appointing people from a circle as office-bearers without any elections. Such party structures fail to inspire the confidence of the Commission and lead the Commission to completely ignore the numerical strength of the rival factions in the organizational wing despite being conscious of its importance and role as the building block of the Party. is forced to.
The election body also said that these seemingly unjust situations are often a creation of the party itself, which failed to create a strong constitution that provides for a democratic structure within the party and also to protect the constitution when it comes to appointments. was modified to allow for undemocratic methods of
“It is indeed paradoxical that there is detailed public scrutiny of the internal workings of a political party when the lens of Para 15 of the Emblem Order is invoked,” the order concluded.
It states that, ideally and ethically, a political party should regularly make public key aspects of its internal working to comply with the extant guidelines laid down by the ECI and ensure that its constitution is in accordance with the democratic ethos and Reflects the principles of internal party democracy, and uploads a copy of the constitution and the list of office-bearers to the respective websites.
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