Sena war peaks on foundation day

In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena's 59th foundation day turned into a full-blown family feud on Thursday, with Uddhav Thackeray accusing the BJP of sabotaging a possible alliance with cousin Raj Thackeray’s MNS, and Eknath Shinde firing back with taunts of betrayal and hunger for power. Holding parallel rallies in Mumbai, both Sena factions invoked Bal Thackeray’s legacy, and tore into each other over who truly upholds it. While Shinde’s group gathered at the NSCI Dome in Worli, Uddhav’s faction chose the Shanmukhananda Hall in Sion.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp publicly mocked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) for celebrating the party's 59th foundation day, despite the latter faction only being formed in 2022. The Shinde camp used its social media platform to post a cartoon directly questioning the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s legitimacy in commemorating the decades-old party. The cartoon showed Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aaditya Thackeray, scratching their heads over their faction's true "birth date," with a reference below the cartoon of a Wikipedia entry which stated that the Shiv Sena (UBT) was established on October 10, 2022.Shinde said Uddhav had no right to invoke Bal Thackeray. “You abandoned his ideology, tied up with the Congress and NCP, the same people Balasaheb fought all his life.” “You didn’t get even one-third of the votes we did,” Shinde said. “Your votes came from Congress. Real Shiv Sainiks have said goodbye to you.”
At the Sion rally, Uddhav quoted a fierce line from the 1991 film Prahaar to lash out at the Shinde camp. “Like Nana Patekar in the movie, I stand before the gaddars and say, ‘Come on, kill me!’” he said, before adding, “But come with an ambulance, like in Trishul, because you’ll need it.” He alleged the BJP was working overtime to block any unity between Marathi parties. “They’re holding hotel meetings to stop us. But if you try to destroy the Thackeray brand, we will destroy the BJP,” Uddhav thundered, referring to Raj Thackeray’s recent meeting with deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.He tore into the Mahayuti manifesto, calling promises like Rs 2,100 to women and farm loan waivers a “fraud,” and accused the government of “gifting away” Mumbai’s Dharavi to the Adani Group.