Shiv Sena's New 'Secular' Logo? Satire Pic Goes Viral

A morphed image of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray wearing a green shirt and posing against a green background with his party's logo is doing the rounds on social media with claims that it is a new logo for future campaigns. The edited photograph has been tweeted by a parody account impersonating Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra. 

Uddhav Thackeray is set to become the first chief minister from the Thackeray family, after Devendra Fadnavis resigned on November 26, three days after taking charge of the post. Thackeray was elected as the nominee for the Maharashtra chief minister's post by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance post Fadnavis' resignation.

According to the viral tweet, the edited image is a symbol of the new 'secular' Shiv Sena. The party, which is synonymous with the colour saffron, is known for its aggressive Hindutva ideology in Maharashtra. Miffed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters see the party's decision to ditch the BJP and tie up with the Congress - its ideological foe, as a betrayal. 

Click here to view the archive of the tweet. 

The same photo is viral on Facebook with claims that the erstwhile Shiv Sena, which was known for its Marathi regional Hindu nationalist leanings, have now turned secular. The original Sena logo featuring a bow and arrow, is saffron in colour. 

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BOOM found that the image has been tweeted by a parody account of Raut, with the handle @geelanai.  Netizens also also pointed out that the account is a parody handle impersonating Sanjay Raut. The same account was earlier a troll account of Kashmiri separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The original image, with a saffron background can be found in Shiv Sena's official campaign video. 

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Note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that Thackeray was the first chief minister from the party. The error is regretted.