Uddhav Thackeray gets to roar at Shivaji Park in Dussehra rally

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) has been given permission to hold its traditional annual Dussehra rally on October 24 at the famed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park in central Mumbai, an official said here on Thursday.

Accordingly, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will deliver the customary festival address from the same sprawling 28-acre venue, where the tradition was started in 1966 by the party’s founder-patriarch the late Balasaheb Thackeray.

Several senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders like Sachin Ahir, Sushma Andhare, and Kishore Tiwari have welcomed the development as "a triumph of morality", but said the clearance should have come much earlier.

Tiwari said that the upcoming Dussehra 2023 rally "is extremely significant for the party" as it will be a "curtain-raiser" to the 2024 Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and civic elections due in the state.

The party's annual festival rally has been held at the venue for the past 57 years, barring a few rare occasion, like in October 2020, when the then CM Thackeray addressed it in a closed venue, the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Auditorium, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

However, Dussehra 2022 witnessed a history of sorts when two rallies were held by the rival parties – one by the Thackeray-led party and the other of the Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde, which broke away in June 2022.

This year, too, the two contender parties had applied to the BMC for holding the rally at the same venue, but at the last minute, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena withdrew its application, ostensibly to avoid any law-and-order issues. It's not clear where the Shinde’s party will hold its rally, though a couple of venues in south Mumbai or the Bandra Kurla Complex grounds are likely to be considered.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has started full-scale preparations for the October 24 gathering where Thackeray is expected to guide his "sainiks" and spell out the future course of the party for the election year.