Eknath Shinde faction real Shiv Sena: Election Commission

"This is the victory of Balasaheb's legacy. Ours is the true Shiv Sena," Eknath Shinde said.

The Election Commission on Friday recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered allocation of the "bow and arrow" poll symbol to it.

In a 78-page order on the protracted battle for control of the organisation, the Commission allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly bypolls in the state.

The Commission said MLAs backing Eknath Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of the winning Shiv Sena candidates, the three-member Commission said in a unanimous order.

Victory of Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology: Eknath Shinde 

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Friday described the Election Commission's decision to recognise his faction as the real Shiv Sena as victory of Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology.

"I thank Election Commission. Majority counts in democracy," Shinde said, reacting to the poll panel's decision, seen as a major blow to the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction.

"This is the victory of Balasaheb's legacy. Ours is the true Shiv Sena," he said.

"We set up the government in Maharashtra (with BJP) las year keeping in mind thoughts of Balasaheb," Shinde said.