The Election Commission on Tuesday allotted ‘two swords and a shield’ as the poll symbol to the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The Shinde faction, which is now named as ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’, will be able to use the symbol for the Andheri East assembly bypoll, should it decide to contest the election scheduled for November 3.
Shinde welcomed the allocation of the poll symbol and asserted that his group was the true torchbearer for the staunch Hindutva ideology laid down by Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
“We will be the shield that protects the innocent and the sword that destroys the rogues,” he said on Twitter.
In a letter to Shinde, the Commission said it has decided to declare ‘Do Talwarein aur Ek Dhal (Two Swords & Shield)’ to be a free symbol and allot it to the candidate set up, if any, by the Shinde-led group in the current bye-election.
The Shinde faction had suggested ‘peepal tree’, shield and sword’ (dhal-talwar), and ‘sun’ as its choice of poll symbols.
The Commission turned down all the three suggestions made by the Shinde-group contending that they were not in the list of free symbols.