Days After EC Order, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde Named As Shiv Sena Chief

Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde.

(Photo: PTI)

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde was named the Shiv Sena chief at a party meeting on Tuesday, 21 February.

This comes days after Election Commission announced that party name Shiv Sena will be retained by Shinde faction.

Details: The announcement was made at the national executive meeting of Shiv Sena, chaired by Shinde on Tuesday.

"Today we held a meeting under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde. He will be the chief of our Shiv Sena party. We accept him as the leader of Shiv Sena," said Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra CM has filed a plea against the ECI's decision in the Supreme Court, which has listed on Wednesday, 22 February.

Shinde camp legislators took possession of the Shiv Sena party office in the Maharashtra legislature on Monday, and were also allotted the party office in Parliament House by the Lok Sabha Secretariat a day later.

Background: The split in the original Shiv Sena began in June 2022 when Shinde led 48 MLAs in a Bharatiya Janata Party-backed coup against the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, bringing down his coalition government.

In October 2022, the ECI had announced that the Uddhav Thackeray faction would be known as 'Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray,' with its new party symbol as the 'flaming torch,' while the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would be called 'Balasahebachi Shiv Sena' (Balasaheb's Shiv Sena).

However, on Friday, 17 February, ECI recognised the Eknath Shinde faction as the 'real' Shiv Sena, ordering that it will retain the original party name and the party symbol bow and arrow.