Accept EC decision, no impact of symbol change, Pawar adivises Uddhav

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the loss of 'bow and arrow' will not make any difference to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena as people will accept its new poll symbol.

Pawar, whose party is Thackeray's ally, also reminded that the Congress led by Indira Gandhi had to pick a new symbol in 1978, but it had no damaging consequences for the party.

He was reacting to the Election Commission's decision to recognize the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena, and award it the original 'bow and arrow' symbol.

"Once a decision is given, there can be no discussion. Accept it, take a new symbol. It (loss of the old symbol) is not going to have any impact," the NCP chief advised the Thackeray group.

He recalled that Indira Gandhi faced a similar situation in the aftermath of the Emergency.

"Congress used to have the 'two bullocks with a yoke' symbol. After they lost it, they adopted 'hand' as the new symbol, and people accepted it. Similarly, people will accept the new symbol (of the Uddhav faction)," the veteran politician said.