Shinde camp happy with 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena', vows to follow his ideology & Hindutva

After the Election Commission allotted the name 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena' to the Eknath Shinde faction, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Deepak Kesarkar said that their group is happy that they have got the name of Balasaheb Thackeray.

He stated that his faction will follow the path of Hindutva and the ideology of Balasaheb and also reiterated that the Shinde camp is the 'real Shiv Sena'.

"We have from the beginning said that our Shiv Sena is the real Shiv Sena of Balasaheb. We are happy that we have got that name. We have received the blessings of Balasaheb and will follow the ideology of him and the path of Hindutva," said the cabinet minister for School Education and Marathi Language.

Sheetal Mhatre, the former corporator and spokesperson of the Shinde camp, also said that the EC approving the 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena' is a matter of great happiness for them.

"Our Shiv Sena will be called Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. It is a matter of great happiness for us. For the last three months, we were saying this only," she said.

'Absolutely happy but Shinde faction copied symbols,' says the Uddhav camp

Uddhav camp MP Arvind Sawant said that they are happy with the 'Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)'. However, he also accused Election Commission of leaking their suggestions for party symbols and the Shinde faction of copying them.

"Basically we demanded Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackeray). We are absolutely happy we will go with the two faces of Shiv Sena- Uddhav and Balasaheb Thackeray...See how they are copying us. When we submitted EC leaked it. Eknath Shinde group had submitted the same symbols. This (party name) is just for the bypoll," Sawant said.

Another Thackeray loyalist, Bhaskar Jadhav said, "We are happy that the three names that matter to us most  Uddhav ji, Balasaheb and Thackeray - are retained in the new name."

Sena factions get new names

The Election Commission on Monday allotted the 'flaming torch' election symbol and 'Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)' name to the Uddhav Thackeray faction. 

The poll body has allotted 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena' (Balasaheb's Shiv Sena) to the Shinde faction. It has also asked the group to submit a fresh list of three symbols by 10 am on Tuesday.