Mumbai:

Mumbai’s annual Dussehra rally – traditionally a chance for political messaging, particularly in an election years like this – will be held today, with the rival Shiv Sena factions holding individual events, as they have since the Eknath Shinde vs Uddhav Thackeray battle split the party in two.

Mr Thackeray’s faction will hold its rally at the historic Shivaji Park – home to Sena Dussehra allies every year since the late 1960s, starting from party founder Balsaheb Thackeray.

The rival group led by Mr Shinde will hold his rally at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

Both will be hours-long events with festivities and food stalls leading up to the main event – speeches by ex-Chief Minister Thackeray and Chief Minister Shinde at their respective grounds.

Both sides may have to deal with muddy terrain given recent heavy rain in the city, but Thackeray Sena leader Sanjay Raut has insisted this will not affect the day’s schedule.

Ahead of today’s rallies, both sides have released teasers.

The Shinde faction’s teaser shows a tiger – called Sena – tied to the Congress with a rope cut by Mr Shinde with an arrow. The Thackeray Sena’s poster talks about saving Maharashtra’s pride and burying traitors – a reference to the MLAs who joined Mr Shinde in the rebellion.

The battle for Maharashtra – perhaps the last prestige election of the year – will see a Congress, battered by defeat in Haryana and a humbling Jammu and Kashmir this month, go up against a BJP that has won three of the six Assembly polls in 2024 and the April-June general election.

But these are the supporting acts.

The main battle will see factions of the Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, which also saw a Sena-like split after nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against uncle and party patriarch Sharad Pawar.

The Thackeray Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP are allied with the Congress under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) banner, while the other two are allied with the BJP as the Mahayuti alliance.

The former alliance has the bragging rights after a strong performance in the Lok Sabha poll; MVA parties won 30 of the state’s 48 seats, with the Congress claiming an impressive 13.

Much of that confidence, though, may have been eroded by the Congress’ poor show in Haryana and J&K. The Thackeray Sena – allied with that party at the national level too, under the INDIA bloc – ripped into Rahul Gandhi and co. this week, accusing it of not accommodating allies.

The Congress’ Maharashtra unit responded swiftly, pointing out that political realities between each state are different and that, in their state, the party is committed to working with allies.

The BJP and the Mahayuti alliance have talked up their chances of returning to power, with Mr Shinde’s Sena faction positioning itself as the ‘true’ heir to the legacy of Balsaheb Thackeray.

It won’t just be the Sena vs Sena Dussehra rallies in focus.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil – who made headlines for a hunger fast over demand for reservation for his community – will address an event in Beed district. He has not, thus far, made an overt political move, but the MVA and Mahayuti are both on alert.

Last week Patil issued a warning of sorts, demanding reservation be confirmed before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in. “Both sides should not play politics with the Marathas,” he said.

Election dates (Maharashtra and Jharkhand) have not been announced yet – they are expected after Dussehra – but party sources say voting is likely to take place mid-November.

Mumbai:

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the country needs a strong government but not of “one party with brute majority”, and batted for a coalition rule.

Speaking at his party’s annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, he said when the “chair” (of ruler) is unstable, the country becomes strong.

Mr Thackeray, who is part of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, advocated a “mili-juli sarkar’ (coalition government) which can take everyone along, and cited the examples of governments under Manmohan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

There was a time when Sena founder and his father late Bal Thackeray said that the country needed a strong government, Uddhav recalled.

“We have seen a strong government for nine years now. Have the issues of the people been resolved? “There should be a strong government, but not of any one party with a brute majority,” he added, targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his friend-turned-foe.

The BJP or (its predecessor) Jana Sangh played no role in any struggle including that for the country’s freedom, Marathwada liberation struggle or the Samyukta (united) Maharashtra movement, the former chief minister claimed.

Attempts were being made to “steal” the Shiv Sena, he said, slamming the rival Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Warning his rivals, Mr Thackeray said, “After we come to power, we will hang upside down those who are harassing us.” Attacking the BJP, Mr Thackeray said his party’s Hindutva was nationalism.

Slamming the Shinde government over the lathi-charge at Maratha protestors in Jalna last month, Thackeray said the Marathas were agitating for quota even when he was chief minister, but he never gave such orders.

Who was the “General Dyer” who ordered lathi-charge in Jalna, he asked.

The issue of reservation for Maratha, Dhangar and other communities can only be resolved by the Centre and Parliament, Thackeray further said.

The BJP creates a rift and then acts as a protector, he alleged.

Slamming Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar over “delay” in disqualifying rebel MLAs of the Shiv Sena, Thackeray said the country was not just watching how the case unfolds. If the speaker did not heed the Supreme Court’s direction (to hear disqualification petitions expeditiously), the people would be watching if an apex court exists in the country or not, he said.

Mr Thackeray also dared the Shinde-led government to hold elections and let people decide whether the rebel MLAs were “qualified or disqualified”.

Seeking to counter the BJP’s attack on dynastic politics, Thackeray said he was proud of his family.

“…a doctor’s son becomes a doctor. We are preserving the legacy of our family… Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is also preserving the legacy of his family,” he said.

“He (Chandrachud) has occupied the position because of his merit. His father (Y V Chandrachud) too was the chief justice of the country and he was very strict,” Mr Thackeray said.

On the other hand, there were some leaders who came from obscure families and rose to power, Mr Thackeray said, citing the examples of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussain, Vladimir Putin and Muammar Gaddafi.

Targeting the Maharashtra government over the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project, he asked who will benefit from it.

The high-speed train project was being executed “so that traitors can quickly flee to Gujarat,” he quipped, and alleged that attempts were being made to “loot Mumbai.” All good investments were being diverted from Maharashtra to Gujarat and other states, Mr Thackeray claimed.

The Pakistani team was playing cricket in India when Indian soldiers were being shot at on the India-Pakistan border, the Sena (UBT) chief said.

After the speeches were over, effigies of Ravan and a demon dubbed as “khokasur” were burnt.

The Thackeray-led Sena has often accused the MLAs of the Shinde group of taking `khokas’ (crores of rupees) to switch loyalties which led to the collapse of the Thackeray government in June last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)