Uddhav Sena faction says election body biased, gave priority to Eknath Shinde

Mumbai (TIP)- The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is biased and that it gave priority to Eknath Shinde while allotting the party symbols to the two factions.Vivek Singh, a lawyer of the Uddhav camp wrote a letter to the ECI stating that the procedure adopted by the election body during the allocation of symbols gave an “undue upper hand to the Shinde camp”. The election commission had frozen the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol amid a tussle between the factions. Afterwards,the election body gave the mashaal symbol to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and two swords and shield to the Eknath Shinde-led faction. The Uddhav-led Sena will be called the ‘Shiv Sena – Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ while the Shinde camp was given the name‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’. The four-page letter by the Uddhav camp alleged that the ECI gave biased treatment to the Shinde faction.It also sought assurance from the Commission that such “biased treatment in favour of the Eknath Shinde faction” will not continue and that both groups will be dealt with on an equal footing. According to the letter, the EIC uploaded a copy of a confidential letter sent by the Uddhav camp which contained the options for the new symbols that will be used in the upcoming Andheri East by-elections. However, the commission uploaded the letter on its website making it accessible to everyone, including the Shinde camp.