Mumbai gears up for massive show of strength on Shiv Sena foundation day

Fifty seven years after Balasaheb Thackeray founded Shiv Sena - for the larger cause of Marathi manoos - two parallel foundation day events will be held on June 19 in a massive show of strength in Mumbai.

Nearly a year after a major split in the regional party, Balasaheb Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be holding parallel shows to chart their future course in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.

Balasaheb Thackeray (1926-2012) founded the Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966.

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Just after the 56th foundation day, Shinde had raised a banner of revolt against Uddhav and toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, with the help of BJP.

On June 21, 2022, Shinde moved a dozen of MLAs to Gujarat by road under the nose of the MVA government and then flew to Guwahati as the group of rebel MLAs swelled. On 30 June, 2023, Shinde was sworn in as Chief Minister while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, who was an ex-Chief Minister and former Leader of Opposition, was made Deputy Chief Minister.

After the split, 40 of the 56 Shiv Sena MLAs sided with Shinde and rest 16 with Thackeray, while in Lok Sabha, 13 of the 18 elected from Maharashtra joined the Shinde-camp and five the Uddhav's faction.

After a battle of the two factions before the Election Commission, the Shinde-faction was legitimised as the real Shiv Sena and allotted the ‘dhanushya-baan’ (bow and arrow) symbol, following which he was made Shiv Sena’s chief leader.

On the other hand, Uddhav's faction came to be known as the Shiv Sena (UBT) with the ‘mashaal’ (flaming torch) as the party symbol.

In May this year, the Supreme Court said that Uddhav’s position as chief minister cannot be restored though it passed strictures against then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari - and left the issue of disqualification for the Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly to settle.

In this backdrop, two parallel Shiv Sena foundation days would be held on June 19, 2023.

The Shinde-led Shiv Sena would hold a grand foundation day event next Monday at the Nesco Complex at Goregaon, while the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena (UBT) would hold its function at the Shanmukhananda Hall at King’s Circle.

However, on Sunday, Uddhav’s party would hold a ‘maha adhiveshan’ (plenary) at Worli, which is expected to be attended by over 10,000 delegates from across Maharashtra and elsewhere in India.

In the last five decades, the Shiv Sena saw several leaders walking out of the party fold - Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray - but Shinde's rebellion worst affected the Thackeray family.

Bhujbal is with the NCP, while Rane is with the BJP. Raj had floated his own party MNS.

The conventions also hold importance as it comes months ahead of the local body polls in several big corporations like Mumbai, Thane, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Amravati.