Accept EC decision and take a new symbol: Sharad Pawar's advice to Uddhav Thackeray on ‘bow and arrow’ loss

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the loss of bow and arrow' will not make any difference to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena as people will accept its new poll symbol.

Pawar, whose party is Thackeray's ally, also reminded that the Congress led by Indira Gandhi had to pick a new symbol in 1978, but it had no damaging consequences for the party.

He was reacting to the Election Commission's decision to recognize the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena, and award it the originalbow and arrow' symbol.

"Once a decision is given, there can be no discussion. Accept it, take a new symbol. It (loss of the old symbol) is not going to have any impact," the NCP chief advised the Thackeray group.

He recalled that Indira Gandhi faced a similar situation in the aftermath of the Emergency.

"Congress used to have the 'two bullocks with a yoke' symbol. After they lost it, they adopted 'hand' as the new symbol, and people accepted it. Similarly, people will accept the new symbol (of the Uddhav faction)," the veteran politician said.

In a big blow to Thackeray, the EC on Friday allotted the name 'Shiv Sena' and its poll symbol 'bow and arrow' to the group led by CM Shinde. This is for the first time that the Thackeray family has lost control of the party that was founded in 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray on the principles of justice for the sons of the soil.

The bow and arrow is a symbol that has been associated with the Shiv Sena, a political party in India. The party was founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, and it uses the bow and arrow as one of its symbols, along with a tiger. The bow and arrow symbol is meant to represent strength and power, as well as a readiness to defend oneself and one's community. It is also associated with the Hindu god Rama, who is often depicted carrying a bow and arrow.

In a unanimous order on the six-month-old petition filed by Shinde, the three-member Commission said it had relied on the numerical strength of the party in the legislative wing, where the chief minister enjoyed the support of 40 of the 55 MLAs and 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha members.

Shinde broke ranks with Thackeray in June last year and formed the government in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In its order, the Commission said 40 MLAs, supporting the Shinde faction, garnered 36,57,327 votes out of total 47,82,440 votes, which accounts for approximately 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of 55 winning MLAs. This was in contrast with 11,25,113 votes garnered by 15 MLAs whose support is claimed by the Thackeray faction.

Thackeray had on Friday termed the EC's decision as "dangerous for democracy", and said he would challenge it in the Supreme Court, while CM Shinde had described the development as "victory of truth and people".