Mumbai, 19th June 2023: The factions led by CM Eknath Shinde and former leader Uddhav Thackeray are all set to celebrate the party’s foundation day at separate events in Mumbai today.
Both factions are going all out to project themselves as the “true inheritors” of party founder Bal Thackeray’s legacy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections.
While the Shinde-led Shiv Sena will hold their gathering in Goregaon, northwest Mumbai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will hold its celebrations in Sion, central Mumbai.
Eknath Shinde, then a minister in Uddhav Thackeray’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration, defected against his employer in June last year, toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government of the Sena, NCP, and Congress with the support of 39 other party MLAs.
Shinde was then appointed Chief Minister, with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis serving as his Deputy. The Election Commission of India granted his side the original party name and the ‘bow and arrow’ emblem. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was the name given to the Thackeray group.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, the son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, told PTI that party workers from across the state would gather for his faction’s event.
The Uddhav Thackeray Sena (UBT) outlet ‘Saamana’ on the other hand reported that Uddhav Thackeray will address the party conclave in Worli, south-central Mumbai, the Assembly seat of his son and former minister Aaditya Thackeray.
Aaditya Thackeray and senior Sena leader Subhash Desai will inaugurate the conclave. According to a report in the Saamana, a video about Uddhav Thackeray’s efforts as chief minister will also be screened.
