Amid the ongoing controversy between the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the rival Eknath Shinde faction over the Shiv Sena’s annual Dasara rally, Mr.Thackeray on Saturday asked the party functionaries to prepare themselves for the event at the traditional spot at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
“We are going to hold the Dasara rally at Shivtirth (Shivaji Park). Prepare yourself for the event,” he told the Shiv Sainik at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai. As part of the preparations for the mega rally, the 62-year-old Thackeray will meet Sena functionaries on September 21 and discuss the plans.
Both the factions had filed applications with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation seeking a nod to conduct the rally and the approval was still pending.
In an oblique reference to the party’s rival and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Mr.Thackeray said that attempts to weaken the Sena by engineering splits and defections were made in the past and had failed. “Even now it wouldn’t succeed,” he asserted.
He said he headed the 'original' Sena which was born out of social work spanning four generations, and it could not be snatched away or purchased. However, Chief Minister Shinde’s camp called itself the ‘original’ Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray and had also staked the claim to the party’s poll symbol - a ‘bow and arrow’.
“We are the original party born out of decades of social work,” Mr. Thackeray told the functionaries, instructing them to activate the grassroots cadre and focus on strengthening the party organisation.
