The rallies have generated intense interest in political circles as well as among ordinary citizens and will be much more than two friend-enemies speeches as rival factions try to project themselves as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and claim Will try The legacy of the late Bal Thackeray, the founder of the party.
Read also: Mumbai: Police issues order to avoid overcrowding around Dussehra fair in Dadar
While the Uddhav Thackeray faction will hold its rally at the historic Shivaji Park in central Mumbai’s Dadar, a venue associated with the Shiv Sena since its inception in 1966, the insurgent group led by Shinde has held its event at the MMRDA ground in Bandra. Kurla Complex (BKC) in the suburbs.
The sprawling MMRDA grounds are located close to ‘Matoshree’, the Thackeray family’s private residence in suburban Bandra.
Earlier on 23 September Bombay high court Eknath Shinde’s request to organize a Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park was rejected. The court rejected the intervention application of Eknath Shinde faction MLA Sada Sarvankar in connection with the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park.
The High Court directed the local police station to make adequate arrangements to avoid any law and order problem and asked the department to video-record the incident.
Both the camps claimed that they were carrying forward the ideals of Bal Thackeray, who was known for giving fiery speeches at Dussehra rallies at Shivaji Park till his death in 2012.
Since then, his son Uddhav Thackeray, a former CM who lost power in June following a rebellion by a trusted aide Shinde, has been addressing the annual event.
Dussehra rally is being organized at Shivaji Park after a gap of two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Both sides have claimed that their rallies will be a huge success and top leaders touched the last minute preparations for the mega show.
On the ground, the areas in and around the two places are washed in saffron flags and banners.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is expected to launch attacks on the Shinde faction and his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is now part of the government in the state.
In his address, Chief Minister may target Uddhav Thackeray for “distracting” from the Hindutva path and joining hands with his rivals Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in November. 2019
Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership led to the toppling of the MVA government in late June. Mumbai Police has beefed up security at Shivaji Park and BKC, in view of the huge crowd at the Dussehra rallies of Shiv Sena factions, an official said on Tuesday.
A senior Mumbai Police official said 3,200 officers, 15,200 personnel, 1,500 State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) personnel, 1,000 Home Guard personnel, 20 Quick Response Teams (QRTs), 15 Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) have been deployed. went. For two rallies.
BKC will have 2,000 personnel of Mumbai Police and Traffic Branch, 5 to 6 DCPs and 15 to 16 ACPs on duty. Shinde camp spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre said that 3.5 to 4 lakh people are expected to participate in the rally to be held at MMRDA ground. Arrangements have been made for food and vehicle parking for those coming from outside the city.
Sources said that over 5,000 buses, several small tourist vehicles and cars and a special train have been deployed to take supporters of both the rival Shiv Sena factions for their Dussehra rallies.
A railway official said that a train has been booked for the Dussehra rally from Nanded city in central Maharashtra. The train booked by Shinde faction will leave Nanded on Tuesday night and reach Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) on Wednesday afternoon.
According to bus operators, the Shinde-led faction has hired at least 3,000 private buses from different districts of Maharashtra to bring their supporters.
Besides, around 4,000 tourists will bring cab supporters to the MMRDA grounds, sources said. The Thackeray faction has booked 700 buses to bring the rally participants to Shivaji Park.
A bus operator said the buses booked by the Thackeray group will bring Shiv Sena workers and supporters, mainly from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
On the other hand, buses and other vehicles hired by Shinde faction will come from different parts of Maharashtra. Another bus operator said that around 700 buses were booked from the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra.
Most of these buses have already left from different districts of the region and are expected to reach Mumbai by Tuesday midnight or Wednesday morning. The operator said that apart from buses, local leaders of the Shinde camp have hired several tourist vehicles to bring supporters to Mumbai. Several activists of the rebel camp are using their personal vehicles to reach the venue.
The operator said that apart from tying saffron flags, he has also put up posters of Chief Minister Shinde on the vehicles. At least 1,700 government buses have been booked in various areas of Maharashtra, an official of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) said.
A large number of vehicles headed towards Mumbai led to traffic jams at some places on the state highways.
The Mumbai Traffic Police has made necessary arrangements for parking of hundreds of buses and other vehicles carrying laborers for rallies. Buses carrying supporters from western and north Mumbai will be parked along Senapati Bapat Marg and Kamgar Maidan, while buses coming from Navi Mumbai and Thane will be parked at Five Gardens, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Edenwala Road, an official said. .
Cars will be parked at Indiabulls Finance, Indiabulls One Center and Kohinoor Square. Buses for the BKC rally will be parked behind the family court in suburban Bandra, near Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, MMRDA Ground and Jio Garden.
(with inputs from PTI)
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