Ramdas Athawale suggested Mr Thackeray to carry his faction’s rally at BKC.
Pune:
Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday mentioned the “real” Shiv Sena is the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and solely it has the “moral right” to carry the celebration’s annual Dussehra rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park.
Mumbai’s civic physique has mentioned it had obtained functions from the Uddhav Thackeray and Shinde-led factions of the Shiv Sena to “book” the sprawling Shivaji Park for the celebration’s Dussehra rally in October.
The rally, arguably an important occasion within the Shiv Sena’s political calendar, has been going down at Shivaji Park for a number of a long time, however has two claimants this time as a consequence of a break up within the Sena following a insurrection by Mr Shinde in June.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Mr Athawale mentioned the Shinde faction has the help of two-thirds of the Shiv Sena’s elected representatives and staff, and expressed the hope the ruling camp will get selections in its favour from the Election Commission and court docket in issues pending earlier than them over the celebration image and different points.
“According to me, since the real Shiv Sena belongs to Eknath Shinde, he has the moral right to hold the Dussehra ‘melava’ (rally) at Shivaji Park. That moral right has slipped from the hands of (Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray,” mentioned the central minister, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He suggested Mr Thackeray to carry his faction’s rally at BKC, a enterprise district in suburban Bandra.
“The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will support the Shinde faction and give permission to them to hold the congregation (in Shivaji Park),” he mentioned.
Shivaji Park in central Mumbai is carefully related to the evolution and progress of the Shiv Sena, which was based by Bal Thackeray.
Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assembly varied opposition leaders to unite them towards the BJP, Mr Athawale asserted it was not a straightforward job to tackle Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Modiji and we (BJP and its allies) will keep going ahead. Let the opposition parties come together, but it is not a kid’s play to confront Modiji,” acknowledged the Union minister.
He termed Nitish Kumar, who snapped ties with the BJP final month, as an “unreliable” politician and mockingly mentioned “It was good that leaders like him and KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao) and (his West Bengal counterpart) and Mamata Banerjee are coming together. Let them come together, we are ready to confront them.”
The Union minister maintained his celebration, the Republican Party of India (Athawale), won’t contest the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections on the BJP’s image, however will combat by itself ballot image.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
