The Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing the Shiv Sena election symbol dispute case on Wednesday, November 12, and its verdict is expected to drastically rewrite all existing equations in Maharashtra politics, as well as prove to be a decisive factor in the local civic body elections, which will begin on December 2, 2025.
The Supreme Court’s verdict may even decide the political fates of both Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who relies on Shinde’s party for support as well as a Mahayuti alliance partner.
Earlier, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s petition had challenged the Election Commission of India’s February 17, 2023 decision, recognising Eknath Shinde’s party as the “real Shiv Sena” and allotting to Shinde’s party the ‘Bow and Arrow’ symbol, which used to be with the undivided Shiv Sena before it split.
In early October, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh had posted the matter for hearing on November 12, after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, sought an early hearing, citing the forthcoming local civic body elections in Maharashtra.
The Election Commission had permitted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to contest the February 2023 Maharashtra assembly bye-elections under the name “Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)” using a temporary symbol of a ‘flaming torch’.
However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena continues to insist that the Election Commission of India overstepped its role as a neutral arbiter by basing its decision purely on legislative strength, rather than the party’s organisational structure or its ideological continuity.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s petition, which is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 12, argues that the EC failed to uphold the spirit of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which mandates an impartial adjudication in intra-party disputes.
According to Uddhav Thackeray’s petition before the Supreme Court, the EC defended its decision to recognise Eknath Shinde’s party as “the real Shiv Sena” and allot it the undivided Shiv Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol.
Uddhav Thackeray’s petition has argued that the EC ruling was flawed and driven solely by the legislative majority enjoyed by Shinde’s party, which cannot determine the “real” party under the law.
Uddhav Thackeray has argued that his party alone retains majority support in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha and that the EC was “wrong” in assuming that the party split, without considering the entire evidence.