Tussle again over Shivaji Park to hold annual Dussehra rally

This year, the competition to snag Shivaji Park as their venue is especially keen as other option, the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground which can accommodate substantial crowds, is not available. Nearly the entire ground has been taken over by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited for the bullet train terminal depot construction

Mumbai: For the second year in a row, chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have locked horns over Shivaji Park ground as the venue for their Dussehra rally on October 24.

Tussle again over Shivaji Park to hold annual Dussehra rally

This year, the competition to snag Shivaji Park as their venue is especially keen as other option, the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground which can accommodate substantial crowds, is not available. Nearly the entire ground has been taken over by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited for the bullet train terminal depot construction.

One of the two parties will then have to move their Dussehra rally to the NESCO centre at Goregaon East. “We have been holding the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park since our inception. The late Balasaheb used to address it and now Uddhavji addresses it. Last year, the BMC and Shinde-led Shiv Sena gave us a lot of trouble but finally the courts gave us justice,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former mayor Vishakha Raut. Not wanting to take any chances, the party applied as early as August 7th for permission to hold the rally on October 24th. However, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena had already applied a few days before, leading to a potential face-off between the two factions.

“It looks like we will have to approach the courts for justice again,’’ said Raut. Two things however may go against them. The Shinde faction has been officially recognized as Shiv Sena by the Election Commission of India since the last Dussehra rally, and second, they have been pipped to the post in the race to apply for permissions.

Assistant commissioner G North Prashant Sapkale said, “We have received applications from both parties, we will soon take a decision and inform them.”

Krishna Hegde, deputy leader and spokesperson of Shiv Sena, said, “Our MLA Sada Sarvankar from Mahim has applied for permission, and as we are the real Shiv Sena we must get the permission.’’