Mumbai: After the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) launched an outreach campaign to connect with its ground cadre, the rival Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has also launched a similar programme, branded as the “Shivadhanushya Yatra”, with the objective of establishing itself as ‘the Shiv Sena’ across Maharashtra.
As part of the campaign, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh with the Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs who owe allegiance to him, before touring the entire state of Maharashtra.
The campaigns of the two factions come after the Election Commission’s (EC) order two weeks ago allotting the name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party’s traditional bow-and-arrow symbol to the Shinde group.
A senior functionary of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena told ThePrint: “We want everyone in Maharashtra to associate CM Shinde with the Shiv Sena’s bow-and-arrow symbol now after the EC order. The plan is to tour the state with a replica of the bow and arrow.”
Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale, one of the 13 Sena MPs to rebel against the Thackeray-led party and join the Shinde faction last year, told ThePrint that the party is still finalising the dates of the campaign and other details.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), on the other hand, has branded its outreach campaign as the ‘Shivgarjana Yatra’, in which groups of five or six party functionaries are visiting each of Maharashtra’s 36 districts. The aim of the campaign is to reassure the ground cadre after losing the party’s name and symbol to the Shinde faction, and figure out which local leaders are still loyal to the Thackerays.
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Ayodhya visit, bow-and-arrow tour
CM Shinde is likely to schedule the tour to Ayodhya after the budget session of the legislature concludes on 25 March, according to the Shinde faction functionary mentioned earlier.
“The CM will travel to Ayodhya with all senior party functionaries, MPs and MLAs. He will accept a bow and arrow there from the mahant at a temple,” he said, adding “the CM will bring the bow and arrow back to Maharashtra and it will then be taken to different regions of the state as part of the Shivadhanushya yatra”.
Last year, Shinde led a rebellion of the majority of Shiv Sena MLAs, toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra and causing a vertical split in the Shiv Sena.
The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.
Shinde then joined hands with the BJP to form a government in the state with himself as the CM.
Shinde subsequently also approached the EC staking claim to the official name of the party, Shiv Sena, and its symbol — the bow and arrow.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also read: Thackeray faction faces uphill battle after EC order allotting Shiv Sena name, symbol to Shinde