Won't get involved in row over allocation of 'Shiv Sena' name and symbol, says Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he has clarified his stand on the Election Commission’s decision to recognise Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real ‘Shiv Sena’ and allocation of the ‘bow and arrow’ poll symbol to it, and will not get involved in the controversy over it.

In its decision on Friday, the EC allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to retain the name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the ‘flaming torch’ poll symbol, given to it in an interim order in October last year, till the conclusion of upcoming Assembly bypolls in the state.

Uddhav Thackeray had said the EC’s order was “dangerous for democracy” and he would challenge it in the Supreme Court.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had described the EC’s decision as the victory of truth and people.

Pawar on Friday said the loss of `bow and arrow’ will not make any difference to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction as people will accept its new poll symbol.

To a query from reporters over the issue on Sunday, the NCP chief, who was in Pune’s Baramati town, said, “I do not want to get involved in the controversy regarding the name and symbol given to Eknath Shinde. I have already clarified my stand on the same two days back.”

Asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Pune, Pawar said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was here for the Sahkar Maha Conclave.

“I was present at the opening ceremony of the event. There were talks about policies and issues in the field of cooperation (sahkar). There is no difference between us. I found his points were correctly mentioned during his speech,” Pawar said.

Speaking at the Sahkar Maha Conclave on Banking and Sugar Industry organised by media group Sakal, Shah on Saturday said the cooperative sector in the country needs to introspect to improve its systems, and would receive full support from the Centre in this exercise.

Shah, who is the country’s first Union Cooperation minister besides being the minister for Home Affairs, had also pointed to the drop in the number of cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra and rise in the number of private ones.