With 164 MLAs voting in its favour, the new Eknath Shinde-led government sailed through the trust vote in the state assembly and has been stable ever since. However, the damage Eknath Shinde has done to Uddhav Thackeray and the Thackeray family’s hold over the Shiv Sena is not limited to the Maharashtra Assembly. In the Lok Sabha too, the undivided Sena’s strength was reduced from 19 MPs to seven. After the formation of the Shinde-Fadnavis government, Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena lost its prominence within the Opposition as the NCP emerged stronger with Ajit Pawar becoming the Opposition leader. Uddhav Sena was on the cusp of a churn as the conflict went to the Supreme Court with its demand for the disqualification of rebel MLAs and to the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the allocation of the party name and symbol.
Amidst the ongoing disputes, in November last year, prior to the Andheri East assembly constituency bypoll, the ECI froze the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol of the Shiv Sena and instead allotted the ’two swords and shield’ symbol to the Eknath Shinde Sena and the ‘flaming torch’ election symbol to the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
The 17th February 2022 decision of the ECI to grant party symbol and name to the Eknath Shinde Sena dealt a body blow to Uddhav Thackeray and the Thackeray family. The family lost control of the Shiv Sena for the first time since the formation of the party in 1966. Moreover, the party has always been associated with the family name and the charm and charisma of founder Balasaheb Thackeray. While Uddhav Thackeray made significant additions and changes to the party’s politics and image over the years, Balasaheb’s brand and image have remained central to the party’s ideology and for the Sainiks on the ground. Loss of the party name and symbol and support in the Assembly will mean that Uddhav Thackeray will have to revive the Uddhav Sena from scratch.