Mumbai: The Eknath led Shiv Sena faction received a big jolt as the Bombay HC granted permission to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to organise a Dussehra rally at Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park. The court rejected the Shinde faction’s request to not decide on the petition until the dispute over claim to the party was settled.
The decision comes a day after Dadar MLA Sada Sarvankar, part of the Shinde faction, had argued that under the garb of the present petition, the petitioners (Thackeray-led Shiv Sena) were trying to lay claim on the party as they approached the court after being denied permission from BMC.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Thuesday denied permission to both the factions for holding Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park on the basis of law and order concerns raised by Mumbai Police. The Thackeray faction challenged the BMC decision, to which the Shinde faction made an intervention plea.
Shiv Sena has been holding the rally on Dussehra every year since 1966. The event is significant this year as Sena is now split up into two factions and the rally was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.