Uddhav decided to leave the arrow command: 12 MPs who came with the Shinde faction, understand how the Election Commission will decide on 5 questions

Eknath Shinde has started getting heavy in the battle to snatch Shiv Sena's party symbol Arrow Command from Uddhav Thackeray. Out of the total 19 Lok Sabha MPs of Shiv Sena, 12 have come to their side. There is also the claim of 6 more MPs.

Earlier, 40 MLAs, most of the Shiv Sainiks associated with the national executive and the organization have accompanied Shinde. Overall, Shiv Sena's arrow command slipping from Uddhav's hand is almost certain. However, the final decision lies with the Election Commission.

Rahul Shewale of the Shinde faction becomes the leader of Shiv Sena in Lok Sabha

Uddhav Thackeray meanwhile has suffered another major setback. On July 19, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognized Rahul Shewale, leader of the Eknath Shinde faction, as the leader of the Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha. Birla took this step after 12 out of 19 Shiv Sena MPs supported the Shinde faction.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his son Shrikant Shinde were among the 12 Shiv Sena MPs who requested the speaker to do so. Bhawna Gawli has been retained as the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena.

Question 1: After Shinde became CM in Maharashtra, what has changed in the equation of Shiv Sena's Uddhav faction and Shinde faction?

MLAs: In 2019, Shiv Sena had a total of 56 MLAs. Of these, 1 has died. That is, this number is now 55. In the floor test held on July 4, 40 MLAs voted in favor of the Shinde faction.

Organization: On July 7, out of 67 corporators of the Thane district, 66 joined the Shinde faction. If seen, Thane is the largest municipal corporation after BMC. After this 55 corporators of Dombivli Municipal Corporation left Uddhav Thackeray and joined Shinde. 32 corporators from Navi Mumbai have also joined the Shinde faction.

Simultaneously, the Shinde faction dissolved the party's old national executive on July 18 and announced a new executive. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been elected as the new leader of Shiv Sena. The special thing is that Shiv Sena has not removed the post of party chief. That is, the post of Uddhav Thackeray has been kept as it is.

MP: Shiv Sena has 19 Lok Sabha and 3 Rajya Sabha MPs. Out of these, the Shinde faction of 12 Lok Sabha MPs got paraded in front of the Lok Sabha Speaker on Tuesday, ie July 19. Along with this, the Shinde faction claims that out of 19 MPs, 18 are with us. Speaker Om Birla has also recognized the rebel group leader Eknath Shinde's supporter MP Rahul Shewale as the leader of Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha.

Presidential election: Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena alliance with Congress and NCP is still intact, but in the presidential elections held on July 18, all 22 Shiv Sena MPs voted in favor of BJP candidate Draupadi Murmu.

Question 2: How will the Election Commission decide on the matter of the Shiv Sena symbol?

If there is a split in a recognized national or state-level party, the Election Commission decides whose real party is. That is, whose Shiv Sena, will be decided only by the Election Commission. The Election Commission gets this power from paragraph 15 of The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

The commission will examine the vertical division of the party. That is, both the legislature and the organization are seen in it. The Election Commission brings out the list of top committees and decision-making bodies of the party before the partition. From this, it tries to know how many of these members or officials belong to which group. Apart from this, how many MPs and MLAs are there in which faction?

In most cases, the commission has decided to give symbols based on the support of party office bearers and elected representatives, but if for some reason it is not able to properly justify the support within the organization, then the commission is completely independent of the party. Decides based on the majority of MPs and MLAs.

Question 3: Will the Shinde faction snatch away the Shiv Sena's symbol Arrow Command by changing the equation?

Shiv Sena's 40 MLAs and 12 MPs are now with the Shinde faction. Shinde has claimed based on the number of MPs and MLAs that he has two-thirds of the people's representatives, so the real Shiv Sena is now his. Along with this, the Shinde faction has also claimed to be with office bearers of many districts. That is, Shinde has started disbanding the organization as well.

However, before this break, Uddhav Thackeray is the president elected according to the constitution of Shiv Sena. There is no rebellion in the parliamentary faction yet.

As mentioned above, the Election Commission will investigate the vertical division of the party. That is, both the legislature and the organization are seen in it. In such a situation, the Shinde faction seems to be in a strong position in the present situation. That is, along with the legislature, he is also seen doing the people of the organization on his side.

Question 4: Has this matter reached the Election Commission?

Uddhav's Shiv Sena filed a caveat in the Election Commission on July 11 because of the strategy to capture Shinde's party. It said that before considering any demand made by the Shinde faction on the party's election symbol, they should be heard.

It is believed that after coming with the MPs, Eknath Shinde can soon approach the Election Commission and stake claim on Shiv Sena.

Also Read: Maharashtra: To save the legislature of its MLAs, now the Uddhav camp has filed a petition, and the Supreme Court is ready for hearing