All eyes on Mumbai as Dussehra rallies of Shiv Sena factions in city today

For the first time since the Shiv Senas inception 56 years ago two Dussehra rallies will be held in Mumbai on Wednesday evening by the partys rival factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray in what is being billed as a show of strength by both camps after a change in government in JuneAnticipating huge turnouts at the rallies of the Sena factions the Mumbai Police have tightened security at the Shivaji Park and Bandra Kurla Complex BKC an official said on TuesdayMore than 5000 buses a number of small tourist vehicles and cars and a special train have been roped in to ferry supporters of the two rival Shiv Sena factions for their respective Dussehra rallies sources saidThe rallies have generated intense interest in political circles and also among common citizens and there will be more than just speeches by the two friendsturnedfoes as the rival factions seek to present themselves as the real Shiv Sena and try to claim the legacy of the party founder late Bal ThackerayWhile the Uddhav Thackeray faction will hold its rally at the historic Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai a venue associated with the Shiv Sena since its inception in 1966 the rebel group led by Shinde has organised their event at the MMRDA ground at BKC in the suburbsThe sprawling MMRDA ground is located close to Matoshree the private residence of the Thackeray family in BandraBoth the camps have claimed they are taking forward the ideals of Bal Thackeray who was known to make fiery speeches at the Dussehra rallies at Shivaji Park year after year till his death in 2012Since then his son Uddhav Thackeray a former CM who lost power in June following rebellion by his once trusted aide Shinde had been addressing the annual eventThe Dussehra rally is being held at the Shivaji Park after a gap of two years due to COVID19 restrictionsAlso Read Mumbai Wersquore with Uddhav Thackeray say Kolis from WorliBoth sides have claimed their rallies will be a grand success with top leaders giving last minute touches to the preparations for the mega shows On the ground the areas in and around the two venues are awashed in saffron flags and bannersShiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is expected to launch attacks on the Shinde faction and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP his former ally which is now part of the government in the stateIn his address the chief minister is likely to target Uddhav Thackeray for deviating from the path of Hindutva and joining hands with his once rivals Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government in November 2019Rebellion by Shinde against Uddhav Thackerays leadership brought down the MVA government in June this yearA senior Mumbai Police official said 3200 officers 15200 personnel 1500 personnel of the State Reserve Police Force SRPF 1000 jawans of Home Guard 20 Quick Response Teams QRTs 15 Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads BDDS have been deployed for the two ralliesAt BKC 2000 personnel of the Mumbai Police and traffic branch 5 to 6 DCPs and 15 to 16 ACPs will be on dutySheetal Mhatre a spokesperson for the Shinde camp said 35 to 4 lakh people are expected to attend the rally at the MMRDA groundArrangements for food and vehicle parking for those coming from outside the city have been madeA railway official said a train has been booked for the Dussehra rally from Nanded city in central MaharashtraThe train booked by the Shinde faction will arrive in Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on Wednesday afternoonAccording to bus operators the Shindeled faction has hired at least 3000 private buses from different districts of Maharashtra to ferry its supportersBesides around 4000 tourist cabs will bring supporters to the MMRDA ground the sources saidThe Thackeray faction has booked 700 buses to bring rally participants to the Shivaji ParkA bus operator said the buses booked by the Thackeray group will bring Sena workers and supporters mainly from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMROn the other hand buses and other vehicles hired by the Shinde faction will arrive from various parts of MaharashtraMany activists of the rebel camp are using their personal vehicles to travel to the event siteAt least 1700 staterun buses have been booked in various regions in Maharashtra an official of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC told PTI adding this will generate additional revenue for the cashstrapped corporationA large number of vehicles heading towards Mumbai led to traffic congestion at some locations on state highwaysThe Mumbai traffic police have made necessary arrangements for the parking of scores of buses and other vehicles that will bring workers to the ralliesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever