After several months, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray had something to cheer about on Friday, with the Bombay High Court ruling in its favour and allowing it to hold the party's traditional Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park. Both the Uddhav and Shinde factions had sought permission from the BMC to hold a rally on the ground on October 5. The corporation had denied permission to both, citing the possibility of violence, prompting them to approach the court. Having lost power in the state as well as the control of a large section of the Sena to Eknath Shinde, Uddhav will get a major morale boost from the High Court win. It is also significant given that elections are due soon to the BMC, the prestigious corporation that has long been controlled by the Sena. Another reason the Uddhav Sena will take heart from the court win is that it comes at a time when it is battling the Shinde Sena on many similar fronts, including in the Supreme Court and the Election Commission. Uddhav called the court order a “victory of democracy”, and said it restored “our trust in the judiciary”. "I thank everyone. I appeal to all Sena workers to follow the tradition of years. Let's attend this rally in a disciplined manner. The court has asked the state government to maintain law and order, and I am sure that the state government will do so,” he said. With both factions claiming to be the original Sena, the Uddhav-led faction first submitted a formal application to the BMC on August 22 for holding the rally. The Shinde camp approached the BMC on August 30. Following the expiry of the term of the previous Sena-controlled BMC earlier this year and with polls delayed, a state government-appointed administrator has been running the Mumbai civic body. Initially, the administrator delayed the decision and ultimately denied permission to both. By then, the Shinde Sena had applied and got the permission to hold a Dussehra rally on MMRDA grounds. Sources within the BMC said permission to the Uddhav camp for the Shivaji Park rally was always on the cards, but political pressure might have made the administrator choose the easy way out. From day one, Uddhav insisted that “come what may, the Dussehra rally will be held at Shivaji Park”, playing to the sentiments of his loyalist base on the matter. The Shinde camp also dug its heels in, realising the emotional weight of the rally at Shivaji Park, and the message it would send to the Sainiks should Uddhav win this round. Now, there is talk within his faction that it should not have taken such a strident stand on the issue. Leaders admitted that had the Shinde Sena not made it a prestige issue, Uddhav could not have derived the mileage from it as he is set to do now. Officially, the Shinde camp argued that it was not a loss of face for it. Saying they would respect the court order, spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre added: "The real Shiv Sena, of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has already received the permission to hold the Dussehra rally at MMRDA ground. We will hold the rally amid celebrations and these will be of a true Hindutva party.” BJP leader and Deputy CM and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he could not comment on the court order, while adding that the government would follow it. "The Home Department is tasked with maintaining the law and order situation, and we will do it," he said. The Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mumbai, has been an annual Sena tradition since the party was founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966. The first such rally was held on October 30 of that year. Balasaheb used his Dussehra speech at Shivaji Park to set the agenda for party leaders and workers, coming from across the state, for the year. Many a time, the speeches were impromptu. In 1991, after Bal Thackeray spoke out against cricket matches with Pakistan, Sena workers had barged into Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium and dug up a pitch to disrupt a match between the two sides. The 2010 rally had seen the launch of Uddhav's son Aaditya Thackeray into the political arena. Having taken over the reins of the Sena from Balasaheb, Uddhav has been holding the Dussehra rally since 2013. In 2015, he had hit out at the BJP, questioning its Hindutva, marking the first cracks in the Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra. The Sena has never skipped a Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, barring 2006 (due to heavy rains), 2009 (Assembly elections), 2020 (when it was held virtually due to the Covid pandemic), and 2021 (when it was organised at Shanmukhananda Hall to ensure a smaller crowd).
