Uddhav, Raj suspend plans of grand rallies

The two parties will now have a single rally on Sunday at Shivaji Park, the permission for which is awaited

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, which recently joined hands ahead of the BMC polls, and announced campaign rallies in the island city, and western and eastern suburbs, have pulled back their plans. The two parties will now have a single rally on Sunday at Shivaji Park, the permission for which is awaited.

the Thackeray cousins – Uddhav and Raj – are now visiting shakhas, which they say form the backbone of Sena (UBT) (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Instead of grand rallies, the Thackeray cousins – Uddhav and Raj – are now visiting shakhas, which they say form the backbone of Sena (UBT).

The reason behind the move was revealed by the cousins in a joint interview to Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana’s editor and the party’s MP Sanjay Raut, where they said: “We have realised that getting enough crowds on working days will be difficult. We have limited resources now. If three meetings are organised, there will be few people left in the campaign.”

The interview with Saamana will be telecast on January 8 and 9.

Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut said, “The rallies have been cut down. We will have only one meeting. All I can say is ‘Sau sonar ki, ek lohar ki’.” Party leader Anil Parab added, “Apart from the single meeting in Mumbai, they will have meetings in Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.”

Shinde’s plans

Meanwhile, an official working in deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s office said that he will hold meetings in all 29 corporations. In Mumbai he has meetings planned in Worli, Sion and Wadala on Wednesday. “Since the Thackerays have made it a prestige issue to win back Mumbai, Shinde has decided to focus on key areas in the city in the evenings,” he said.

BJP MLC Prasad Lad said, “Sena (UBT) and MNS don’t have people at the ground level to gather for the meetings. They have lost confidence and are only indulging in big talk. If one observes Raj Thackeray’s body language, one can see that he is nervous. People don’t have faith in Uddhav and Aditya Thackeray because of several scams in the BMC.”

While Raj visited many shakhas in Borivali, Kandivali, Goregaon and Vile Parle on Tuesday, Uddhav visited shakhas in Andheri. Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and MNS leader Amit Thackeray visited shakhas in western suburbs – from Bandra to Dahisar -- which have nearly 100 wards.