NEW DELHI: Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena on Thursday alleged bias by the Election Commission in the allocation of party symbols and name as it battles for control of the organisation with the group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.”..several communications and the actions of the Hon’ble Commission have given rise to a serious apprehension of bias in the mind of the Respondent,” the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena said in a letter to the Election Commission through its lawyer Vivek Singh.Last week, the Commission had barred the rival factions of the Shiv Sena from using the party name and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, pending the settlement of the dispute over the “real Shiv Sena”.
Earlier this week, the Commission had allotted ‘Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ as the name and ‘flaming torch’ as the election symbol for the Thackeray faction.The Shinde faction got the name ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ and ‘two swords and a shield’ as the election symbol.