Shinde takes an ‘heir’ dig at Uddhav as factions exert clout on Dussehra

Eknath Shinde, who engineered a rebellion in the Sena to lead to the toppling of the Thackeray-led coalition government, shared a Hindi couplet that said whosoever is his heir will be his son and not the other way round.

As factions of the Shiv Sena geared up to hold Dussehra rallies in Mumbai in a show of strength, Uddhav Thackeray's aide-turned-rival and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde shared a Hindi couplet by famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan that said whosoever is his heir will be his son and not the other way round.

File photo of chief minister Eknath Shinde at the MMRDA ground, BKC to inspect preparations for Dussehra Mela in Mumbai. (HT_PRINT)

Shinde, who engineered a rebellion in the Sena to lead to the toppling of the Thackeray-led coalition government, seemed to be taking aim at the Sena supremo and his son Aaditya Thackeray.

"My son, being my son will not be my heir, whoever will be my heir will be my son," read Bachchan's couplet posted by Shinde loosely translated from Hindi.

Mumbai Police on guard

At the BKC venue, about 2,000 police personnel, including deputy commissioners of police and additional commissioners of police, have been deployed, a PTI report said.

The traffic police have made parking arrangements on the Kalina University campus, a senior official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. At the Shivaji Park venue, around 1,000 police personnel, including some in plain clothes, are keeping a vigil, he added.

Thackeray's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed on June 29 this year, following which Shinde took oath as the chief minister with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

Aaditya Thackeray, who represents Worli Assembly constituency in Mumbai, was a minister in the MVA government, while Shinde's son Shrikant is a Lok Sabha member from Kalyan constituency in Thane district.

Shinde, who heads the rebel group of the Sena has the backing of 39 MLAs and 12 MPs. Both the factions are locked in a bitter tussle to prove which of them is the "real" Shiv Sena.

(With inputs from agencies)