Shinde and Uddhav get ready to thunder with rain gods at their Dussehra rallies

Mumbai: Amid a rain and thunderstorm prediction, the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) will hold their respective annual Dussehra shows of strength on Saturday evening.

The simultaneous rallies of chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena will be held at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) at Shivaji Park in Dadar.

These Dusshera rallies will in all likelihood be the last big exclusively Sena gatherings before the assembly election. Rallies leading up to the election after this would mostly be joint rallies with allies like the BJP and NCP for Shinde and the Congress and NCP (SP) for Thackeray.

Both rallies are expected to begin and end around the same time, and both leaders are expected to trade barbs while laying claim to the real Shiv Sena.

Last week, Thackeray had said he would respond to statements by Union home minister Amit Shah of the BJP at the Dusshera rally and answer all questions there.

"Let them say whatever they want, we will reply only once. The goldsmith strikes 100 times but a blacksmith strikes only once and that is enough," Thackeray had said.

After intense thunderstorms hit the city on Thursday night, the IMD forecast light rain with thunderstorms to continue through the weekend.

A yellow alert was issued for Thane, Palghar, and Raigad for Saturday, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, heavy rainfall, and gusty winds in isolated areas.

Though both grounds saw some water-logging, functionaries from both parties said they were expecting it to dry out by evening on Dussehra.

By evening on Friday, none of the parties had decided to shift the rally to an indoor venue. The Shiv Sena Dussehra rally has seen rain in the past too.

There was a clash between the two Senas over holding the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in 2022 after the split.

The Bombay high court finally allowed the Thackeray camp to hold its rally at Shivaji Park in 2022 after both applications from both factions were rejected by the BMC.

In 2023, Shinde's camp withdrew its application months after submission to avoid another spat with Thackeray's party over the venue. The Shiv Sena did not seek Shivaji Park this time.


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