A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) froze the use of the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol amid the ongoing struggle between the rival Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, Mr. Thackeray’s ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, said he was not surprised by the move and stressed that it would neither weaken the Thackeray faction nor have no impact on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
“I am not at all surprised by this decision. I was sure that this would happen. While I do not have any proof to establish that it is being done on purpose, I had a gut feeling that this would happen,” said the NCP chief on Sunday after the poll body prohibited both factions from using the bow and arrow symbol for the upcoming Andheri East Assembly by-election.
Mr. Pawar further said that the symbol did not really matter in the long run as it was ultimately the people who decided on the mandate.
