The Election Commission on Saturday froze the election symbol of Shiv Sena amid a battle for claim between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. The Shinde camp had submitted memorandum to the poll panel seeking allocation of the bow and arrow symbol as the Andheri East assembly bypolls were approaching. Following this, the commission directed the Thackeray faction to respond by Saturday and furnish comments along with requisite documents latest by 2 pm on October 8.

The faction of the Shiv Sena argued before the Election Commission in New Delhi on Saturday that no immediate decision on allotting or freezing the election symbol should be taken. They said that this is valid because the Eknath Shinde group was not contesting the Andheri East Assembly bypoll, but acting as a proxy of the BJP which has decided to field its candidate.