Uddhav Sena urges SC to fast-track hearing of election symbol dispute ahead of local body polls

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to expedite the hearing of its plea challenging the Election Commission’s move to recognize the Eknath Shinde faction as the official party and allot it the bow and arrow symbol, Live Law reported.

The party, through its lawyer Kapil Sibal, made the request a day after the court directed that Maharashtra’s local body elections be notified in four weeks and completed within four months. He argued that since the court had ordered local body elections to be held, the petition needed to be heard urgently.

Sibal cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 Constitution Bench judgment, which ruled that a legislative majority alone cannot determine the real party and argued that the Election Commission relied solely on this criterion in the current case.

However, Justice Surya Kant noted it might not be possible to hear the matter before the court’s vacation, Live Law reported.

Kant verbally highlighted that the Shiv Sena (UBT) now has a symbol and asked why it could not contest elections with it.

“Let the elections be held smoothly,” he added. “You concentrate on that. In local bodies, mostly voters don't support a symbol.”

The Shiv Sena had split in June 2022 after then-Chief Minister Eknath Shinde claimed the support of 39 out of the Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs,...

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