Mumbai: Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray at 97th Jayanti Monday – for the first time since the party’s split last year – saw several leaders including his son Uddhav clash with each other to claim the supremo’s legacy.
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction in party mouthpiece “Saamana” Called Launched in the name of Bal Thackeray, indirectly taunting Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to “crack down the fake market”.
Shinde had split the party last year, removed Uddhav from the chief minister’s post and formed the government with the help of the BJP.
The editorial in Monday’s “Saamana” further stated that people forcibly entered the government and “stole Balasaheb Thackeray like stealing an idol from a temple”.
It said that the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister had “supported and protected the thieves so that there was no obstruction in the theft”.
Shinde, on the other hand, told reporters on Monday that his government runs on the ideals of Bal Thackeray. he Told, “A common worker like me got influenced by the ideology of Balasaheb and with his blessings I got the opportunity to serve as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Not a single moment goes by when I don’t think of him… This government is built on his ideology.”
Meanwhile, the founder’s nephew Raj Thackeray, who founded the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and calls himself real heirOn Monday released two video clips on Raj’s conversation with his uncle. One One of them was captioned “Varsha Vicharanch. (Ideology is heritage)”.
Shinde, a Shiv Sainik for decades, in June last year Rebellion Most of the party’s MLAs walked out of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which also included the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.
He then formed a government with the BJP himself as chief minister and staked claim to the party’s name and symbol. While the Election Commission (EC) and the Supreme Court are still hearing the matter, the Election Commission has provisionally renamed the Shinde faction of the party as “Balasahebchi Shiv Sena”.
Pictures at Vidhan Bhawan, addressed party workers
The Shinde-led government will install a portrait of Bal Thackeray in the central hall of the state assembly Vidhan Bhawan on Monday evening, an event for which Uddhav Thackeray was invited but chose not to attend.
The portrait will be unveiled on Monday in the presence of the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut from Uddhav faction on Sunday slammed The unveiling event was called “political” and one was organized by “Modi’s man”.
While all members of the Thackeray family have been invited, Uddhav and son Aditya Thackeray will skip the event and instead worship the life-size statue of Bal Thackeray in Colaba.
After that, the father-son duo will head to Shanmukhanand Auditorium in Sion, where Uddhav Thackeray will address the party cadre, which has almost become an annual tradition.
A senior MNS functionary said there is still no clarity on whether MNS president Raj Thackeray plans to attend the function at Vidhan Bhavan.
Besides the Vidhan Bhawan event, Shinde will also attend a cataract check-up camp and an award function for health workers, organized by his “Balasahebchi Shiv Sena” on the occasion of the party supremo’s birthday.
Read also: ‘More personal touch’: Twitter handles share excerpts from Modi’s past from BJP worker to PM