EC to hear Shiv Sena's warring faction by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde on Jan 5

The Election Commission (EC) fixed the January 5 as the next date for hearing the arguments of the Shiv Sena's warring factions by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.

According to a report of PTI,  The decision was taken after lawyers from both the factions during a hearing on Monday sought more time to examine documents submitted by the rival groups to claim the party name and symbol.

 Senior counsels Kapil Sibal and Mahesh Jethmalani appeared before the full Election Commission on behalf of the Thackeray faction and the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena respectively. The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has been claiming that it does not recognise the other group.

We do not recognise any group. Shiv Sena is where Thackeray is, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who belongs to the Thackeray faction, told reporters here. Last month, the commission had asked the Shiv Sena factions to submit fresh documents to back their claim to the party's name and its symbol by November 23.

The Election Commission had said the interim order will continue till the final determination of the dispute. Shinde had rebelled against Thackeray's leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs and 12 of its 18 members in Lok Sabha.