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, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Friday.
Pawar, whose party is an ally of Thackeray's, also recalled that the Congress under Indira Gandhi had to choose a new symbol in 1978, but it had no negative consequences for the party.
He was responding to the Election Commission's decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the genuine Shiv Sena and bestow the original 'bow and arrow' symbol on it.
'Accept the decision'
"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.
(With PTI inputs)
