Thackeray faction leaders denied permission to hold rallies

STRAP: Shinde faction denies political vendetta but defends cops’ decision Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Friday alleged that the police had refused permission for Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray’s event at Sillod in Aurangabad, which is the constituency of agriculture minister Abdul Sattar

STRAP: Shinde faction denies political vendetta but defends cops’ decision

Mumbai, India - September 27, 2020: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the inauguration of two projects of the MTDC on Sunday. Aaditya Thackeray, Tourism Minister was also present on the occasion. (Photo : Twitter)

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Friday alleged that the police had refused permission for Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray’s event at Sillod in Aurangabad, which is the constituency of agriculture minister Abdul Sattar. Party leader Sushma Andhare too was denied permission to hold a rally in Muktainagar in Jalgaon district.

Chandrakant Khaire, former Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad, lashed out at the state government and Sattar, and called their denial of permission for Thackeray’s programme “deliberate mischief”. Sattar has invited Shrikant Shinde, son of chief minister Eknath Shinde and Lok Sabha MP to Sillod for a rally on November 7—the the same day that Aaditya Thackeray is scheduled to be there.

“We were never going to hold a public meeting. Aaditya Thackeray was to meet farmers in the rural areas and then come to Sillod, where he would be welcomed. The police denied permission for this welcome at the original spot we decided on, claiming that it would obstruct traffic. They had recommended another spot,” said Ambadas Danve, leader of the opposition in the state legislative council. Accordingly, Thackeray will be welcomed at the Ambedkar chowk in Sillod.

Sattar, who defected to the Shinde faction in June, has often crossed swords with the Thackerays in the past. Last month, he ridiculed former chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray’s tour of Marathwada, claiming that he was with farmers in the fields for just around 24 minutes. He also dared Aaditya Thackeray to face a by-election from his constituency—Worli in Mumbai—by stepping down as an MLA.

On November 7, Aaditya Thackeray will launch his tour of Vidarbha and Marathwada to meet farmers whose standing crops were affected by unseasonal rainfall. He will begin his tour from Akola and go to Sillod via Balapur, Mehkar and Buldhana. After Sillod, he will meet farmers in Aurangabad, Paithan and Ambad in Jalna district, and then head to Osmanabad. He will halt at Solapur on November 9. The Shiv Sena has demanded that a “wet drought” be declared in Maharashtra and farmers be compensated ₹50,000 per hectare for their crop losses.

Meanwhile Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader Sushma Andhare also charged that permission was denied for a rally as part of her ‘Maha Prabodhan Yatra’ at Muktainagar in Jalgaon district. “We then sought permission for a get-together on a private property, which too was denied,” she claimed.

Andhare said she was prevented from holding her public meeting by the police when she had already left for it. “I have not been informed about the reasons,” she said, adding that she was held in detention. “Am I a terrorist?” she demanded, referring to the heavy police bandobast around her vehicle and dubbing it “repression”.

Naresh Mhaske, spokesperson of the Shinde group, denied that political vendetta had any part to play in permission being denied to Andhare. “The police have to consider many aspects like the law-and-order situation before granting permission for rallies or public meetings,” he said. “They can’t allow these events just like that.”

Mhaske alleged that while Aaditya Thackeray had challenged chief minister Eknath Shinde to a debate on the flight of investment from Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT) had cancelled his proposed public meeting in Sillod because they were wary of the response to Shrikant Shinde’s rally there. “If they had the guts, they should have held a public meeting (at Sillod),” he said and quipped: “Yeh dar achha hai (It’s good to see them scared).”