BJP, Shinde’s Sena make their presence felt

In a first joint show of strength, Bharatiya Janata Party and chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday held ‘Ashirwad Yatra’ in two Lok Sabha constituencies in the city. The Ashirwad Yatra was held in North Central Mumbai and South Mumbai

Mumbai: In a first joint show of strength, Bharatiya Janata Party and chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday held ‘Ashirwad Yatra’ in two Lok Sabha constituencies in the city.

Eknath Shinde The Chief Minister of Maharashtra participated in the Ashirwad Yatra organized by Shiv Sena and BJP at Worli in Mumbai. HT Photo

The Ashirwad Yatra was held in North Central Mumbai and South Mumbai. The BJP, however, dominated the rallies with the presence of workers and leaders.

Organised under the leadership of Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, the Yatra was conducted from Amrut Nagar in Ghatkopar to Balrajeshwar Mandir in Mulund in North East constituency in the morning. Besides Shelar, BJP MP Manoj Kotak, MLAs Parag Shah, Mihir Kotecha, Ram Kadam and about 3,000 workers from the two parties participated. The second round of Yatra was held in Worli in South Mumbai in the evening. CM Eknath Shinde, his party leader Yashwant Jadhav and Sushant Shelar among others were present.

The joint show was organised to establish the alliance. By displaying a bow and arrow brought from Ayodhya during the rally and culminating the rallies at temples, the ruling alliance also tried to play Hindutva card ahead of the upcoming local body polls and general polls.

“It was an attempt to build a rapport between the workers of the two parties. There could be internal clashes in some of the constituencies like Worli, Dadar and Mahim, and the joint drive was to minimise them ahead of the polls. It was also aimed at establishing that the original Sena symbol has been allocated to the Sena led by CM Shinde. It was very important ahead of the election,” a BJP leader said.

Ashish Shelar during the Yatra said, “The voters are equally elated to see the symbol going to the party which has been taking forward the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. The Yatra is to take blessings from the people of Mumbai. We are sure to win the civic polls.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, however, criticised the yatra saying the voters are still with the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray. “The traitors have no strength to defeat us. The people of the state will teach them a lesson and it was shown in Kasba Peth by-polls,” MP Vinayak Raut said.

Two more such rounds of yatras will be held in four other constituencies on March 9 and 11.