Uddhav camp moves SC against EC order to prove majority on Shinde group's plea

The Uddhav Thackeray faction has also written to the poll panel requesting it not to go ahead with the plea of the Shinde faction in view of the pendency of a batch of petitions in the top court.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena moved a fresh petition in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking a halt on proceedings before the Election Commission regarding recognition of the real Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena president and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. (PTI)

The plea before the poll panel was moved by the group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The development comes days after the EC asked the rival factions of the Shiv Sena to submit documents by August 8 to prove their majority and support their claims on the election symbol -- bow and arrow -- of the political outfit.

The two sides have been asked to submit documents, including letters of support from the legislative and organisational wings of the party and the written statements of rival factions.

The fresh plea has been filed in a pending petition by Subhash Desai, the general secretary of the Shiv Sena, and seeks the nod of the top court to make the poll panel also a party.

The Thackeray faction has also written to the poll panel requesting it not to go ahead with the plea of the Shinde faction in view of the pendency of a batch of petitions in the top court.

The plea terms the plea of the rival Shinde group to get the poll sybmol and the tag of the real Shiv Sena as an act of “desperation”.

Last week, the Thackeray group filed a representation before the EC after the Shinde-led group wrote to the Commission seeking allocation of the party's 'bow and arrow' election symbol to it, citing the recognition granted to them in the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly.

The top court on July 20 had said the petitions filed by the Shiv Sena and its rebel MLAs during the recent Maharashtra political crisis raised constitutional issues that may require consideration by a larger bench.

Shinde was sworn in as the Maharashtra chief minister on June 30 with support of the BJP a day after Thackeray resigned from the top post. Shinde's rebellion against the party led to the fall of Thackeray's coalition government in which the NCP and Congress were allies.

(With inputs from agencies)