National News
Sena’s Shinde faction strengthens its cadre in Mumbai’s Thackeray stronghold with an eye on the BMC elections
After the Shiv Sena split, the party's cadre remained loyal to Thackeray. Throughout an effort to expand, the Shinde faction established an organisational structure and opened shakhas in Mumbai.
Mumbai: The party group headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has begun work on fortifying Mumbai, the organization’s weakest link, amid disputes over who is the “true” claimant of the Shiv Sena and its emblem.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena group is being challenged by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena group in the upcoming Mumbai municipal elections. The Shinde-led Shiv Sena group has established an organisational framework in the city and is currently strengthening its local cadre.
“It is challenging to rival them [the Thackeray-led Sena] in Mumbai, but we will accomplish it gradually. As more and more individuals become aware of our work, they come to us. We will inevitably become more powerful once we possess the party’s emblem, a Shinde camp MLA told ThePrint.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments in the dispute over who is the Shiv Sena’s official leader and who gets to preserve the party’s bow and arrow emblem.
Mumbai, which has always been a stronghold of the Thackeray family, is the weak link in the Shinde camp. Bal Thackeray was able to form the Shiv Sena in 1966 thanks to the city’s political and social institutions in the 1960s.
The city of opportunity, where people from all over the nation flocked to build a future and competed with Maharashtrians for opportunities in the process, turned out to be a good foundation for the Sena to establish its base on and expand.
The party’s grassroots cadre has remained loyal to the Thackerays even after Shinde broke with 40 MLAs, bringing down the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, and forming a government with the BJP.
Five of the 40 MLAs that left Thackeray’s administration are from Mumbai. One of the three MPs for the Sena in Mumbai, Rahul Shewale, is a Shinde supporter.
The Borivali-Magathane region received the first divisional head appointment from the Shinde camp last week. The CM appointed three divisional administrators and five more divisional heads in Mumbai at a lengthy meeting of camp leaders on Monday.
Two to three areas have been given to each divisional head. There have already been appointments set up for places like Dadar, Mahim, Chembur, Sion, Anushakti Nagar, Borivali, Bhandup, Vikhroli, Mulund, Kurla, Mumbadevi, Malabar Hill, and Colaba.
