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The battle of perceptions over who will inherit the legacy of the late Balasaheb Thackeray and the party he founded in 1966 is about to spill over into Shiv Sena Foundation Day Celebrations – the second most important celebration in the Sena festive calendar after the annual Dussehra gathering – with both factions, one led by Thackeray’s son Uddhav and the other led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, holding separate events today.
Evidently, though, the Shiv Sena split in June 2022, and the faction led by Shinde was subsequently recognized by the Election Commission of India as the real ‘Shiv Sena’ – giving him the right to use the undivided party electoral symbol ‘bow and arrow’ ” – The battle of perceptions is not over.
While CM Shinde’s Sena is organizing Sena’s 57th Foundation Day at NESCO Exhibition Center in Goregaon, Uddhav-led Sena is holding its function at Shanmukhanand Hall in Sion. Shinde and Uddhav are also expected to breathe fire on each other while addressing their congregations.
Before the separate missions, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut confirmed that the group led by Uddhav was the ‘real Shiv Sena’, while the other event is being orchestrated by ‘traitors’. This was answered by CM Shinde’s son and MP Sena Shrikant Shinde, who said, “Party workers from all over the state will gather for the event which we are hosting as the real Chef Sena who is pushing Bal Thackeray’s ideology.”
In this battle for political supremacy and projection of power between Udhav and Shinde, a poster war has already been unleashed on the roads of Mumbai, with both sides attempting to portray themselves as the true heir to Bal Thackeray and his ideology, while making claims and counterclaims against each other.
While the Shinde Sena displays its “bow and arrow” party symbol prominently, the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav has the “flaming torch”, the poll symbol newly assigned to the faction.
The paintings placed on the roads of Mumbai by Shinde Sena have in the background images of Bal Thackeray, Shinde’s late Anand Degi’s political mentor, Chhatrapati Shivaji and a map of Maharashtra, with the image of CM in the foreground. Their message: “Ami Balasahebchi Shiv Sena. Asil Amchi Kayam Sath. 365 Deva, 24 Taas (We are Shiv Sena of Balasaheb. We pledge our support forever, 365 days, 24 hours).”
In contrast, Shiv Sena (UBT) posters contain images of Bal Thackeray, Udhav and his son Aditya. The message underneath affirms: “Nishtavanancha kutumbhshohala;
While the Shiv Sena (UBT) posters depict the Uddhav faction as Balasaheb’s “loyalists” and the Shinde faction as “traitors”, the latter’s posters suggest that by allying with the Congress and the NCP, the Uddhav has distracted itself from the Bal Thackeray ideology as well as the Hindutva, which Shinde continues to support.
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