Election Commission Calls Both Factions Of Shiv Sena On December 12

Eknath Shinde had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs and 12 of its 18 members in Lok Sabha.

The Election Commission will hear the warring factions of the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde on December 12, official sources said today.

They said the symbol dispute of the party has reached the stage of "substantive hearing". December 12 has been set as the date for first personal hearing of the two factions and the required order was issued today.

The poll panel has also directed both the groups to submit any further statement or documents by 5 pm, December 9.

Earlier this 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.