The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) declared on Monday that the Uddhav Thackeray group is the “real” Shiv Sena, despite the decision pending before the election commission and rival factions are planning two meetings on Dussehra day.
Notably, Eknath Shinde had led a revolt against Shiv Sena’s leadership in June this year, leading to the fall of the state government led by Thackeray, made up of the Sena, NCP and Congress.
Thereafter, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis served as Shinde’s deputy when Shinde was sworn in as prime minister.
Since then, the two factions have been engaged in a bitter legal battle for control of the party over the iconic bow and arrow symbol Shiv Sena.
The Sharad Pawar-led party believes that the real Shiv Sena carries the ideas of the party founder, the late Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray, said party spokesman Mahesh Tapase. “This year there will be two Dussehra gatherings. One is of tradition, loyalty, self-respect and ideas of Balasaheb (Thackeray), meaning it is led by Uddhav Thackeray.
While the decision on the real Shiv Sena is pending in the election commission, the real Shiv Sena is the one who has the ideas of Balasaheb (Thackeray), meaning it is the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena,” he said in a video statement .
Also, the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which supported the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction, stated that only a Dussehra meeting led by the Thackeray family can be considered a “legitimate” gathering amid the raging battle between the rival Shiv Sena factions over who would hold the party’s annual Dussehra rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park.
As a setback to Thackeray, the Supreme Court last week allowed the EC to continue hearing the Eknath Shinde group’s plea for recognition as the “real” Shiv Sena and the assignment of the bow-and-arrow symbol of the party to it.
The Thackeray-led faction is set to hold a meeting at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, while the group led by Prime Minister Eknath Shinde has reserved the MMRDA site at the Bandra Kurla complex for the council on Oct. 5. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and top party leaders have supported the Thackeray-led faction since the split in Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led Sena is one of the three members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
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