Shiv Sena mulls legal recourse over Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park

Days after rebel legislators disclosed their plan to hold the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, Shiv Sena has threatened to approach the court if it is not granted permission for the annual show of strength it has been organising since 1966

Days after rebel legislators disclosed their plan to hold the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, Shiv Sena has threatened to approach the court if it is not granted permission for the annual show of strength it has been organising since 1966.

Shivaji Park in Dadar HT Archives

The rival faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde has in fact applied to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking permission for the event.

“If we are not given a proper reply [by the BMC] or [if our application to hold] the Dussehra rally is not approved, we will go to the court as this [holding the rally there] is our right. Considering the first user, first applicant rule, and the principle of natural justice, it is the right of Shiv Sena,” party legislator and spokesperson Manisha Kayande said.

She alleged that the Shinde camp and the Bharatiya Janata Party were trying to create obstacles for Sena to demoralise it. However, party president Uddhav Thackeray was successfully handling the crisis, Kayande claimed.

Sena has a strong emotional link with Shivaji Park. It was born at the Ranade Road residence of party supremo Bal Thackeray on June 19, 1966 and it held its first public meeting at the grounds on Dussehra day in October that year.

Bal Thackeray’s father, social reformer and activist ‘Prabodhankar’ Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, was among those who began the public celebrations of Navratri, which culminates with Dussehra. It was in the 2010 Dussehra rally that Aaditya, Uddhav’s elder son, was launched in politics as the head of Yuva Sena.

The 28-acre Shivaji Park in Dadar was originally named Mahim Park and re-christened after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1927.