Why did the Election Commission allot the Shiv Sena Symbol to the Eknath Faction?
The Election Commission recognised the Shinde Faction as the official 'Shiv Sena' with the liberty to use the name and symbol of 'Bow and Arrow'.
The Uddhav Thackeray Faction was allowed to use 'Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackray) with the symbol of 'Flaming Torch'
Eknath Shinde had filed a petition before th Election Commission on 19th July 2022 to allot the Shiv Sena Symbol and Party Name.
In this case, two factions within the Congress arose and the Election Commission in 1971 used the test of majority to decide on the name and symbol of the party. It was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972.
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The Supreme Court upheld the test of majority rather than the test of party constitution and test of aims and objects.
The 'test of majority' was applied to allow the Shinde Faction to use the symbol of 'Bow and Arrow' along with the name of the Party.
The Current Constitution of the 'Shiv Sena' was also observed to be undemocratic.
The Election Commission finally decided in favour of the Shinde Faction as the Uddhav Thackray Faction MLAs got just 23.5% votes thus failing the test of majority.
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