Maharashtra: From 'bow and arrow' to 'mashaal' - Shiv Sena's changing poll symbols

As the flaming torch mashaal symbol turns over a new leaf for the Uddhav Thackerayled faction of Shiv Sena it is not something new for the party as it had contested an election successfully using it in 1985Senior politician Chhagan Bhujbal who was then in the Shiv Sena had won the election from Mazgaon constituency in Mumbai on the flaming torch symbol when the organisation did not have a fixed poll symbolBhujbal later rebelled and quit the party to join the Congress and is now a prominent leader of the Sharad Pawarled Nationalist Congress Party NCPThe flaming torch symbol was used by the Sena in the past during civic body and Assembly pollsThe Shiv Sena was founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966 and it took 23 years for the party to get the dedicated bow and arrow symbolAlso read Election Commission allots new name flaming torch as poll symbol to Uddhavled faction of Shiv SenaThe Sena was recognised as the state party in 1989 which meant it could use a uniform symbol in the stateBut earlier from 1966 to 1989 it contested on different symbols in the Lok Sabha Assembly and civic pollsAfter nearly 33 years the Election Commission last week froze its bow and arrow symbol for an interim period following a feud between the two Sena factions one led by Uddhav Thackeray and the other by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath ShindeIt also asked the two sides not to use the name Shiv SenaThe EC on Monday allotted ShivSena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray as the party name for the Thackeray faction and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena Balasahebs Shiv Sena as the name for the Eknath Shinde group of the partyShiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar who has been with the party since its inception said the organisation in 196768 first contested the civic body polls including Mumbai when most of its candidates got the sword and shield symbolIn 1985 many party candidates got flaming torch as the symbol he saidYogendra Thakur who has authored several books on the Shiv Sena and its founder Bal Thackeray in an article in the July 23 issue of Marmik magazine saidsenior party leader Madhukar Sarpotdar contested the 1985 Assembly poll from the Kherwadi seat in northwest Mumbai on the flaming torch symbolBal Thackeray had campaigned for him At that time a flaming torch was placed on the left side of the stage to convey the message to voters about the party symbol Thakur saidMarmik a magazine dedicated to cartoons was edited by Bal Thackeray and his brother Shrikant in 1960s when the Sena founder through his caricatures portrayed what he called as injustice against the Marathi manoosIn the 1985 Maharashtra Assembly polls while some candidates contested on the flaming torch symbol the others contested on the bat sun and cup and saucer symbols Kirtikar saidChhagan Bhujbal was one of the candidates elected on the flaming torch symbolIn October 1970 during a bypoll in Mumbai necessitated due to the death of Communist leader Krishna Desai Wamanrao Mahadik contested on the rising sun symbol and won Kirtikar saidExplaining the history behind the Shiv Senas symbols Yogendra Thakur said in 1988 the Election Commission of India decided that all political parties need to be registeredBal Thackeray then decided the Shiv Sena should also be registeredA panel comprising Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai advocate Balkrishna Joshi and Vijay Nadkarni was formed to prepare a constitution for the party with Manohar Joshis guidanceBal Thackeray suggested some changes in the draft and after necessary amendments the team went to Delhi to present its case before the election bodyThey submitted all the necessary documents and the party was registeredThis had also helped the Shiv Sena get the bow and arrow symbol on which it contested the subsequent elections Thakur saidTill that time the Shiv Sena contested polls on different symbols he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever