Sena election symbol case listed in SC but unlikely to be heard, says lawyer

Advocate Asim Sarode informed The Statesman here on Wednesday late evening that though the case related to the undivided Shiv Sena’s election symbol has been listed for a hearing before the bench of Chief Justice of India Suryakant on Thursday, it is unlikely to be heard.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shiv Sena sources had indicated that the case is likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

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The hearing is supposed to decide which party will be allowed to use the bow and arrow symbol of the undivided Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena after the Election Commission of India chose to allow Eknath Shinde to use the election symbol of the undivided Sena.

Speaking to The Statesman, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s lawyer Advocate Asim Sarode said, “The case has been listed and placed at number 40. But I don’t think the case will be heard tomorrow (Thursday).”

Significantly, the hearing of the case before the Supreme Court has been postponed several times before.

The Supreme Court had postponed the hearing of the Shiv Sena symbol and party name case to Friday, January 23, 2026, after it was supposed to be heard two days earlier on a Wednesday.

The case is related to political developments that began in June 2022, when Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with 40 MLAs from the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena, rebelled against the party and formed an alliance with the BJP. This led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Later, the Shinde-led party claimed that Sena’s alliance with the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP was a departure from the core ideology of the Shiv Sena, due to which his group rebelled against the Sena. The rebellion raised serious questions about the party, its election symbol and its leadership.

In February 2023, the Election Commission of India recognised Eknath Shinde’s group as the “real Shiv Sena” and gave it the bow and arrow election symbol, which belonged to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, based on the Shinde-led party’s numerical strength in the Maharashtra state legislature. The Shinde-led Sena went on to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra state assembly elections under the name Shiv Sena, under the bow and arrow election symbol, which was a major setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

Eventually, Uddhav Thackeray moved the Supreme Court against this Election Commission decision to grant its bow and arrow election symbol to the Shinde-led Sena. The main argument of the Uddhav-led Sena was that the Election Commission was wrong to take such a decision merely on the basis of the number of MLAs, while the issue of the disqualification of MLAs was still pending.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena argued that it had sole control over the organisational structure of the Shiv Sena, including the post of the party chief. The Uddhav-led Shiv Sena argued that it was unfair for the Election Commission to apply the criterion of only the numerical strength in the legislature.

However, the Supreme Court refused to stay the decision of the Election Commission, after which the Shinde-led Sena retained the name Shiv Sena as well as the bow and arrow election symbol. Uddhav Thackeray’s group was compelled to use the name ‘Shiv Sena (UBT)’ and a new ‘burning torch’ election symbol.

The dispute is not merely about the party’s name or election symbol alone, but also its entire political legacy, including which party inherits the legacy of late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.