Bombay HC to hear Shiv Sena’s petition seeking nod for Dussehra rally at Shivaji park | Mint – Mint

The petition for urgent hearing division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and Kamal Khata on Wednesday seeks directions to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) granting permission for Sena’s annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji park. 

Sena had filed a petition with the BMC in August but it now fears that CM Eknath Shinde will use his powers to get the petition rejected. With the battle for real Shiv Sena pending before the Bombay HC both the Eknath Shinde faction and Uddhav Thackeray-led faction have staked their claim to the annual rally at the Shivaji Park. 

Shiv Sena has claimed in its petition before the Bombay HC that it has been carrying out the annual rally at Shivaji park ever since its foundation in 1966 and BMC has always given permission for the rally.

The rally holds importance with Shiv Sainiks from all parts of the states converging to listen to their party supremo’s speech. 

With the Dusserah rally being the next point of contention between the two rival Shiv Sena factions, both sides are prepared to hold the rally in October. While Uddhav Thackeray while speaking to party workers in Goregaon on Wednesday said the annual Dussehra rally will take place at the Shivaji Park, reports suggest the Eknath Shinde faction has started to make arrangements for the rally without getting approval from the civic body. 

With both factions not yet getting the approval to hold a rally at the Shivaji, they had applied for permission to hold the rally at the MMRDA ground at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai with the Shinde faction getting the approval last week for holding the rally at BKC.