At the Balasaheb Thackeray memorial in Shivaji Park, Mumbai, a fight broke out between the two factions of the Shiv Sena on Thursday night. Both Sena sections confronted one other and yelled slogans during the incident.
Shiv Sena workers yelled that the party belonged to them, while supporters of Uddhav Thackeray retaliated with chants of ‘traitors go back.’ Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde condemned the incident, saying that ‘no one should create a ruckus at Balasaheb Thackeray’s memorial.’
Shinde also stated that the act ‘shouldn’t be tolerated’ and called it ‘very unfortunate.’ ‘To prevent any untoward incident and maintain law and order, we visited the memorial site a day before to pay tribute to the late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray.’
‘However, the attempt to create a ruckus on his memorial day is reprehensible and highly objectionable,’ he added. Shinde went on to say that upholding law and order in the state is a shared duty.
He emphasised that, on the day of Balasaheb Thackeray’s memorial, it is his duty as Chief Minister to honour him; ‘yet we refrained from doing so because I didn’t want anything untoward to happen.’
The Chief Minister further said, ‘Till I visited the memorial none was present. After I left, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Desai and Anil Parab came with supporters and shouted slogans against me, and an unnecessary attempt was made to disrupt peace.’
Shinde further asserted that the female employees of his party were subjected to derogatory remarks. He went on to say that such behaviour is incompatible with the principles advocated by Balasaheb Thackeray.
Following Shinde’s uprising in June of last year, the Shiv Sena split, and ever since, both groups have been trying for credit for Bal Thackeray’s legacy—which his fans reverently refer to as ‘Hinduhriday Samrat.’
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