‘Turncoats’ ‘duplicate Sena’: Shinde, Uddhav groups take potshots at each other with posters

Through the teasers and the rally, both Sena factions are staking a claim on the legacy of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Taking digs at each other through posters, both Sena factions are claiming theirs as the real Dussehra rally which follows the ideology of Bal Thackeray.

In its teaser video, Sena UBT has attacked CM Shinde and other leaders who joined him, calling them traitors. “Some people are turncoats… they sell themselves for money. But real men cannot be sold. One place for real men is Shivtirth Dadar. One leader, one thought and one ground (venue) for Dussehra rally– the gathering of real men,” the teaser reads. It also showcases Shiv Sainiks holding placards on which is written ‘rally of the loyalist… loyalist Shiv Sainiks’.

Shinde-led Sena also took a dig at Sena UBT through banners at the Azad Maidan venue. Their teaser carries an old speech of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, and calls its rally as that of Balasaheb’s Sena. “Hinduism of the Saheb, discipleship of the Saheb! Shiv Sena’s Dussehra gathering… chalo Azad Maidan,” the teaser states.

Meanwhile, Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut called CM Shinde’s rally as “duplicate” and said that the duplicate rally is acceptable only to duplicate people in BJP. He also said that Sena UBT’s annual Dussehra rally held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai has been a tradition and legacy of more than five decades, and claimed that only a Thackeray will draw a road map for Maharashtra and the country from the venue.

Setting the stage for a repeat of last year’s face off between the two groups, both Sena factions had staked a claim on Shivaji Park to hold their annual Dussehra rallies on October 24. However, in a surprising move, CM Shinde announced that his party would consider Azad Maidan or Cross Maidan for the rally.

After the split in Sena last year, both factions fought over the venue for the Dussehra rally. They filed applications with the BMC to get permission for the rally, but the civic body rejected both applications. Bombay High Court eventually allowed Sena (UBT) to hold the event at Shivaji Park on October 5 last year, while Shinde-led Sena held its rally at MMRDA ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).

The undivided Shiv Sena had been holding the Dussehra rally at the park or Shiv Tirth, as the party calls it, for years now. The event holds much importance for the Sena as a political party since its foundation was laid in 1966.