Dussehra war for Shivaji Park begins anew between Senas | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI:In a repeat of the showdown last year, the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde and the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray have both filed applications with the BMC to hold their annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Both applications were filed last month and were sent by the G-North ward to the BMC legal department for an opinion. The application for the Shiv Sena was made by Mahim MLA Sada Sarvankar while the application for the Shiv Sena (UBT) was made by its local zonal head, Mahesh Sawant. Dussehra will be celebrated on October 24.
“This is our traditional event. The BMC harassed us last year so we had to go to the high court and the Dussehra rally was held well. We made the application almost a month and a half ago. We have even attached last year’s permission. I met assistant municipal commissioner Prashant Sakpale asking the status of our application, so he told me that the file has been sent to the legal department,” Sawant said.
Last year, soon after the 40 Shiv Sena MLAs led by Shinde split in June, the Thacke ray camp had applied for permission to hold the annual Dussehra rally of the party at Shivaji Park. Days later, the Shinde faction too applied for permission at the same venue. The BMC rejected permission to both factions, and eventually the Bombay high court quashed the BMC order and allowed the Thackerayled faction to hold the rally at Shivaji Park on October 5. The Shinde faction then held its Dussehra rally on the MMRDA grounds in BKC.
When the nods were sought last year, the Shinde faction was not recognised by the Election Commission (EC) as the Shiv Sena. In February, the EC recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotted it the ‘bow and arrow’ poll symbol. The Thackeray faction then picked the name Shiv Sena (UBT) and was allotted the ‘mashaal’ symbol.
The BMC had rejected permission for Shivaji Park to both factions citing a police report which said allowing a rally there would lead to a law and order situation. The police had submitted a report citing an incident of firing on the premises of the Dadar police station on Ganpati visarjan day. The high court had observed that the BMC misused its powers in deciding the application of petitioners.