Congress helping Uddhav Thackeray organise Dussehra crowds: BJP

The BJP has accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction of taking Congress' help to organise a crowd for making its Dussehra rally a success.

The Uddhav faction will hold Shiv Sena's traditional annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar on October 5. The Uddhav faction will hold Shiv Sena's traditional annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar on October 5.

The rival Eknath Shinde camp is also holding another Dussehra rally on the same day at MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex. The BJP has now claimed that the Uddhav faction is finding it hard to draw a crowd for its rally in Shivaji Park and has sought the services of Congress. BJP's state chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye on Friday claimed in return the Uddhav group would be supporting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra when it reaches Maharashtra.


The Sena camp has alleged that the Shinde government would be trying its level best to prevent the Uddhav camp from reaching the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park.

On Thursday, Uddhav group loyalists, Anil Parab and other Sena leaders, met Mumbai Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil to discuss traffic and other arrangements. Sources in the Uddhav camp said they wanted to ensure that their supporters were not stopped anywhere on their route to the rally and hence wanted to work in coordination with the police.

On Friday, Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar alleged that the Shinde camp is trying to prevent its supporters from attending the rally but said the Uddhav camp would ensure that the rally is a success.

This time the rally assumes significance as 39 Shiv Sena MLAs have formed another group with Eknath Shinde. If Uddhav holds a rally with a huge crowd at Shivaji Park, then he could use it as a show of strength and to buttress his claim that he is the real inheritor of his father Bal Thackeray's legacy.