Sena (UBT) to sound LS poll bugle through convention in Nashik on January 23

Shiv Sena (UBT) will hold a one-day convention in Nashik on January 23 to kick off its Lok Sabha poll campaign, aiming to strengthen its base outside Mumbai. The convention will feature sessions on important subjects and a public rally addressed by party president Uddhav Thackeray. This move comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches BJP's campaign in Ayodhya.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) has decided to sound the bugle for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Nashik, which is mentioned as Panchavati in the Ramayana and is home to the famous Kalaram temple. The party will hold a show of strength in the temple city on January 23, the birth anniversary of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, through a one-day ‘mahashibir’ (convention), MP Sanjay Raut announced in Nashik on Sunday. Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray will also address a rally the same evening, he stated.

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“Many party leaders will visit Nashik in the coming days to finalise details of the convention and make arrangements,” said Raut.

Shiv Sena’s convention is slated to take place a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches BJP’s Lok Sabha poll campaign on January 22 by inaugurating the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The choice of Nashik is crucial due to its religious importance as well as the party’s interest in strengthening its base outside Mumbai, especially after the split last June, said insiders.

The convention is also an attempt to charge up party organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Uddhav Thackeray is likely to reach the temple city a day earlier, on January 22, to hold a meeting with the main leaders and office-bearers from north Maharashtra. Over 1,500 people, including office-bearers, MPs and MLAs of Shiv Sena (UBT) are expected to attend the convention.

“In the morning, there will be sessions on different subjects related to the current situation of the state and the country. All office-bearers of the party from various districts of Maharashtra will participate in it,” said the party’s chief spokesperson and MP Arvind Sawant.

The public rally scheduled in the evening is being billed as the Thackeray faction’s show of strength – though Shiv Sena won the Nashik Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 and 2019, its sitting MP Hemant Godse is part of the rival faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde.