- Sunday, April 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Just days after losing the Shiv Sena party’s name and electoral symbol to the opponent faction led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister and son of the Sena’s founder, Bal Thackeray, faced another blow as the secretariat of Lok Sabha or the Lower House of the Indian Parliament said that the party’s office in the parliament was allotted to the Shinde camp.
Responding to a letter penned by Rahul Shewale, floor leader of the Shinde faction, the secretariat said the designated room for the Sena office in the parliament building has been allotted to the party, the Press Trust of India reported.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Sena, which was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance then, won 18 seats after contesting in 98. All the seats it won came from Maharashtra.
Last week, the Election Commission of India recognised Shinde’s faction as the original Sena, allowing it to use the “bow and arrow” symbol in elections, denying Thackeray a claim on the party his Hindu nationalist father had founded in 1966.
The poll panel had last week recognised the Shinde faction as the original Shiv Sena, allowing it to use the “bow and arrow” symbol in elections, practically denying Uddhav Thackeray a claim on the party his father, Bal Thackeray, founded in 1966.
On Saturday (18), Shewale wrote to the Lok Sabha secretariat seeking allotment of the office. Both factions have been using the Sena’s office in the parliament house so far.
The latest development comes soon after Shinde, who became the chief minister last June with the backing of the BJP, announced holding a national executive meeting of the Sena days after taking control of the party’s name and electoral symbol.
The Shinde camp’s show of strength comes when Thackeray has given a strong call to win over the party’s workers, invoking the legacy of his late father, one of the tallest leaders the state’s politics has seen.
The chief minister considers the meeting key as it will help him assess the party’s support base, especially after Thackeray’s continuous attacks on the Shinde camp, accusing them as thieves.
Thackeray also requested the poll commission’s dissolution and moved the judiciary challenging the allotment of the Sena’s name and symbol to the Shinde camp.
The Supreme Court of India agreed to Thackeray’s plea challenging the commission’s order allotting Sena’s name and symbol to Shinde and his group. The plea will be heard on Wednesday (22).
