Forty eight hours after Speaker Rahul Narwekar said that the CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena was the real party, UBT faction chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday took the fight to Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by Shrikant Shinde, the CM's son. Leading from the front, Thackeray, who declared his party will leave no stone unturned to wipe out dynasty politics in Kalyan, gave a clarion call to the people to judiciously exercise their franchise in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Although the Speaker's verdict went against the Shiv Sena ( UBT), Thackeray's decision to visit Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency is an indication he is ready to fight the Shinde-led Sena. Addressing the gathering at Kalyan, Thackeray said, “We have to uproot the dynasty politics. We have to fight the Shinde Shiv Sena which has betrayed us." He was unrelenting in his attack against the ruling BJP too. "We dumped BJP for their hypocrisy. We have not given up Hindutva," he added. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook the Swachhata Abhiyan in Kalaram temple. It was just cosmetic exercise where he swept the carpet,” Thackeray said. " ThePM inaugurated the Atal Setu ( MTHL) in Mumbai. But there was no photo of late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They had only Modi's photo. The Ram temple at Ayodhya was the effort of L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Unfortunately, all the credit is being taken by Modi." "This has been our strong hold. In the coming elections, rest assured, we will get rid of all unwanted garbage ( opponents)," Thackeray told the crowd. The Kalyan Lok Sabha seat was constituted in February 19, 2008 following delimitation. The first Lok Sabha polls for the seat took place in 2009. The then undivided Shiv Sena candidate Anand Paranjpe was elected MP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Shrikant Shinde (son of Eknath Shinde) contested and won, representing undivided Shiv Sena. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shrikant Shinde was elected for a second term. In all the Lok Sabha polls between 2009 and 2019, Shiv Sena and BJP contested as alliance partners. The differences between Shinde and Thackeray came to the fore in June 2022. Shinde with 40 MLAs revolted against Thackeray. He asserted his right over the Shiv Sena party and forged a coalition with the BJP. The Shiv Sena split into two. The 2024 Lok Sabha will be the first elections where the Shinde-led Sena and Sena (UBT) will confromt each other in several constituencies including Kalyan. The Kalyan seat has become prestigous for the CM. Any attack on his son Shrikant indirectly means an attack on him and his party. Responding to Thackeray's visit to Kalyan, Shrikant Shinde said, "Had he shown the same eagerness to visit constituencies and meet sainiks, he wouldn't have landed in such a pathetic situation. At present Thackeray is fighting for survival. People know who is doing good work. They will make the right decision." Kalyan has invited a lot of attention in past one year. Shrikant Shinde has been in fire-fighting mode for the last year to retain his turf. A couple of months ago, local BJP leaders voiced their reservation over Shrikant Shinde's candidature for the coming polls. They urged top party leaders to field a BJP candidate. However, after a lot of deliberations it was decided Shrikant Shinde will remain the candidate. The differences between local units were sharp. The BJP unit had passed a resolution against Shrikant Shinde. It complained about Shrikant Shinde's high-handedness and secondary treatment of party workers. The differences between the ruling coalition partners has reached such an extent that even ministers, MLAs and office bearers representing Kalyan have given their support. However, the matter was resolved after the BJP's central leadership intervened and restored the situation. Kalyan Lok Sabha consists of six assembly segments Ambernath ( Balaji Kinikar of Shiv Sena); Ulhasnagar (Kunal Ailani of BJP); Kalyan-East (Ganpat Patil of BJP); Dombivali (Ravindra Chavan - BJP); Kalyan Rural (Pramod Patil - MNS); Mumbra Kalwa (Jitendra Awhad - NCP). Shrikant Shinde, who is an orthopedic surgeon, has been representing Kalyan Lok Sabha seat since 2014. He is a second term MP.
