You'll see saffron of BJP and real Shiv Sena in Vidhan Sabha: Devendra Fadnavis

On Wednesday, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde addressed a Dussehra rally at the BKC ground, while Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray held his event at the iconic Shivaji Park.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the next government in the western state will be a saffron one – a coalition of the BJP and the “real Shiv Sena” led by Eknath Shinde.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.  (HT file photo)

Stating that Shinde had which faction was the real Shiv Sena, Fadnavis congratulated the chief minister for the accomplishment. “People from across the state came to his rally (Dussehra rally at BKC ground), it established that the real Shiv Sena is CM Shinde's Shiv Sena,” he added.

“You will see saffron in Vidhan Sabha, but this will be a coalition of the BJP and real Shiv Sena that is CM Shinde's Shiv Sena,” Fadnavis told reporters.

On Wednesday, Shinde addressed a Dussehra rally at the BKC ground, while Sena president Uddhav Thackeray held his event at the iconic Shivaji Park. Shinde, who engineered a split in the Shiv Sena leading to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government in the state, said his faction was the real torchbearer of Bal Thackeray’s ideology. Stating that Uddhav Thackeray tried to “sell his father” for the sake of power, the CM said the Shiv Sena is not about Uddhav Thackeray or Shinde, but the ideology of the party’s founder.

In his gathering, Thackeray likened Shinde and his group of rebels, who have now formed the government with the BJP’s aid, to Ravana. “I will call them (the Shinde camp) ‘gaddars’ (traitors). You are ministers for some time, but the taint of being traitors will always stay with you,” he lashed out.

The Bombay high court on September 23 directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to grant permission to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction to conduct the Dussehra rally (or 'melawa' as is it known) at Shivaji park on October 5.

The BMC had earlier refused to permit either faction to hold the rally, based on local police's report that said the event may cause law and order problems in the area.