Shiv Sena

Rajinikanth, in a simple shirt and jeans, was accorded a warm welcome by Shiv Sena-UBT President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi and their sons Aditya and Tejas. Later, Aditya - an ex-Minister - tweeted a picture of the family greeting the legendary actor, draping a shawl around his shoulder.

In a counter-affidavit, the EC said: "Since the impugned order was passed not in an administrative capacity of the commission but in a quasi-judicial capacity under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, it has no contentions to make on merits of the case as the impugned order is a well-reasoned order and covers all the issues raised by the petitioner."

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Shinde group, submitted before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that the then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari did nothing wrong to call Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to prove its majority on the floor of the House last year.

Soon afterwards, Desai, a close confidante of the late Balasaheb Thakeray, and his son and former CM Uddhav Thackeray and the family for over five decades, expressed anguish over his son's move to join the Shiv Sena, and asserted how "he (Bhushan) has nothing to do with either politics or Shiv Sena".

The city MLA Shirsat's quirky call came in response to the indefinite agitation launched by All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Saturday protesting the name change of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and reverting to the old 'Aurangabad'. "If they have so much love for Aurangzeb, then shift his grave to Hyderabad... Let them build a memorial there or do whatever they want, nobody will bother, but stop this agitation," declared Shirsat, who belongs to the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The Chief Whip of Sena-UBT and MLA from Dindoshi, Sunil Prabhu said that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had sent a letter to the government on their decision to boycott the tea party. "Despite this, the CM's comment is regretful and is disrespectful to the Legislative Assembly. How can the Opposition legislators tolerate this," he asked.

Shinde presided over his party's first-ever national executive in Mumbai late on Tuesday, soon after the faction led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) challenged the ECI move in the Supreme Court, with the hearing scheduled Wednesday (February 22). At the meeting, the Shiv Sena leaders, MPs, MLAs and others unanimously authorised Shinde.

This is said to be the first direct communication between the two leaders after the Election Commission of India (ECI) ruling on Friday giving the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'Bow-and-Arrow' symbol to the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Though senior leaders from both parties declined to comment on the topics of the conversation, Pawar is understood to have conveyed to Thackeray that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) stands solidly behind him in his fight.

Eight months later, the party, founded and nurtured by Thackeray, and then the legacy carried forward by his son and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for the past 10 years, faces an existential crisis. On Friday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) delivered its verdict and awarded the name-symbol to the breakaway faction headed by the current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, even as the shell-shocked Thackeray and his team cried foul.

The EC observed that the current constitution of the Shiv Sena on which former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was placing reliance is undemocratic. "While applying the 'Test of party Constitution', the Commission found that the party constitution on which the respondent (Uddhav Thackeray faction) was placing strong reliance is undemocratic," said the Commission in its 78-page order issued on Friday.