Sena factions’ fight for Dussehra rally may head to court

MUMBAI: Days after the Shiv Sena faction led by party president Uddhav Thackeray sought permission to hold the party’s annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde’s camp too has applied for the same venue, suggesting yet another contest between the two sides to assert control over the rank and file.Sena MLA from Dadar, Sada Sarvankar, has applied to BMC for approval to hold the ‘Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally’ at Shivaji Park on October 5 for the same time slot that the Thackeray faction has requested. Last week Thackeray had said that the Sena’s traditional Dussehra rally will be held at no place other than Dadar’s Shivaji Park. “Dussehra rally will be ours…it will be held at Shivaji Park itself. Shiv Sainiks from all corners of Maharashtra have started preparations to come,” Thackeray had said. Now the Shinde faction’s application has landed on the BMC’s desk, underscoring the power struggle within the Sena. Both factions see the venue as significant in their efforts to prove the legitimacy of their claim over the party.The BMC on its part has said that it would examine the Shinde camp’s application and then decide on permissions. “We have now received two applications for the Dussehra rally of the Shiv Sena. As per the 2016 state government resolution, Dussehra rally is allowed at Shivaji Park and is one of the events allowed but it doesn’t specify which faction or party can hold the rally. Both the applications are from the Shiv Sena,” said a senior civic official. “I apply for permission every year for the Dussehra rally as a local Shiv Sena MLA and this year also I have applied for permission to hold the Shiv Sena annual Dussehra rally,” Sarvankar told TOI.For the last two years, due to the Covid-19-induced lockdown, the Sena’s Dussehra rally was held in an auditorium. Thackeray had addressed workers from the Swatantra Veer Savarkar auditorium opposite Shivaji Park. Only 50 top leaders and ministers were inside the auditorium while Sainiks joined the meet virtually. In 2021, the rally was held with 50% capacity in-person at Shanmukhananda Hall.The Sena which was founded in 1966 has been holding its Dussehra rally in Shivaji Park for close to five decades. It began as a much-awaited event where the founder, Bal Thackeray, held forth on the prevailing political and social situation.Political observers said if the BMC delays giving permission, the matter will have to be decided by the courts and there could be a situation in which neither faction is allowed to hold the rally this year.