# Supreme Court questions vote-share test in Shiv Sena symbol case 2026-09-17T16:26:43+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned whether votes cast for a united Shiv Sena in 2019 could be treated as evidence of support for the Eknath Shinde faction. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana heard arguments in the challenge by Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission's decision to recognise the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allot it the bow and arrow symbol. Justice Bagchi observed that voters vote for a party, not a representative, and that relying on past vote shares after a split is conjectural. He asked whether the EC should have considered denying the symbol to both factions and letting them contest on separate symbols. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, for the Shinde faction, defended the EC's legislative majority test, citing that 40 MLAs supporting Shinde secured 76% of votes polled for winning Shiv Sena candidates in 2019. The hearing will continue next week. ## Indian Opinion Analysis All three sources report the same court proceedings with a neutral-report stance, focusing on the bench's scepticism of the legislative majority test. LiveLaw and Bar and Bench highlight Justice Bagchi's detailed questioning on party democracy and the Tenth Schedule, while Rediff adds the EC's possible failure to consider denying the symbol to both factions. The coverage is uniform straight reporting, so the key implication is the court's push for a higher threshold when anti-defection proceedings are pending. The next hearing will clarify whether the EC must revisit its decision. ## Coverage - livelaw.in (neutral report) Focuses on judicial questioning of vote-share evidence and Tenth Schedule concerns. - barandbench.com (neutral report) Emphasises Justice Bagchi's observation that voters vote for party, not representative. - rediff.com (neutral report) Includes PTI wire copy with added context on EC's failure to consider denying symbol to both factions. Tags: Eknath Shinde, Election Commission of India, Shiv Sena, Supreme Court, Uddhav Thackeray Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-questions-legislative-majority-test-in-shiv-sena-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-questions-legislative-majority-test-in-shiv-sena-case/#story-in-brief