Backing his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s demand to hold the annual Dasara rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said that after 40 years of Bal Thackeray beginning the tradition, the Sena had come to be equated with the Dasara gathering at the famous venue.
“For the last 30-40 years, the Shiv Sena under Bal Thackeray has been holding the rally in Shivaji Park. Today, that Sena is working under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. Considering that it is their tradition to hold the rally, their [Uddhav faction’s] demand to stage it in Shivaji Park is not wrong,” said Mr. Pawar, commenting on the raging controversy between rival Shiv Sena factions over the annual event
Speaking in Solapur district, Mr. Pawar said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s breakaway Sena faction too had the right to hold the Dasara Mela.
However, considering that the Shinde-led Sena faction had asked permission for and been granted the venue in the Bandra-Kurla Complex to hold the Dasara rally, there was no reason for them to oppose others [Thackeray faction].
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has green-lighted the Shinde camp’s application to hold the rally at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, but rejected the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s application to hold the rally at another plot in the BKC on the ground that it had already been booked for another event.
Both rival factions had approached the MMRDA authorities as the Mumbai civic body or the BMC officials have yet to decide on the applications of both factions to hold the October 5 Dasara rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
In a veiled jibe at the ruling Shinde-Fadnavis government, Mr. Pawar said no one could oppose granting permission for a programme to a political party just because its ideology was different.
‘Legitimate one’
The NCP has been backing the Uddhav camp’s demand to stage the Dasara gathering since the controversy began, with NCP State President Jayant Patil earlier remarking that only a rally presided by the Thackeray family could be said to be a ‘legitimate’ one.
Meanwhile, when questioned whether the various opposition parties across the country will contest in a grand alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the NCP chief said no decision had been taken yet despite thinking on those lines by leaders of several regional parties.
“Everyone wants to do something together. However, no planning has been done in this regard yet. Both [Bihar Chief Minister] Nitish Kumar and [West Bengal Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee have met me and expressed their views. But it has not translated into any concrete decision,” said Mr. Pawar.
He clarified that the Congress was “not an obstacle” in the move towards building a ‘grand alliance’ of regional parties, stressing that no one should advocate the stance taken by some opposition leaders that the Congress should not be taken along.
