The Foundation Day of Shiv Sena saw yet another bout of verbal duel between the chiefs of two rival factions of the party that since the split, has fought over ideology and the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray. But with Maharashtra’s clear verdict in last year’s assembly polls, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde fought from a position of strength. As his faction — in firm possession of the party name, election symbol as well as assembly seats — directed a sharp blow, Mr Shinde, too, pulled no punches.

From Uddhav Thackeray, along with the expected jabs at the BJP and Eknath Shinde, there was yet another overture towards his cousin Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena: “If we stand today to ensure that the importance of Mumbai is not lost, only then we can stop it (the onslaught)…will that (alliance with MNS) happen? They (the ruling Mahayuthi) are trying to divide Marathi people… These servants of their masters do not want to see Marathi people together,” he said, indirectly refering to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ recent meeting with Raj Thackeray.

The MNS — while not having much heft in the rest of Maharashtra — matters as a catalyst in the civic elections, commanding a substantial number of Marathi votes in many municipal segments, including pockets of Worli, Dadar, Mahim, Prabhadevi, Goregaon and others.

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This is the reason why Raj Thackeray is being courted by both sides, and over the last weeks, Mr Thackeray has sent multiple signals to his estranged cousin – who has been wary so far.

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With Sena already split and BJP solely focusing on the north Indian voters, the Marathi voters will be spoilt with choice and the Shiv Sena UBT believes that the uniting of Thackerays offers better prospects for both parties,

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It was Mr Shinde’s faction, though, which set the tone for the day with a cartoon posted on its social media handles that questioned how a party formed on October 10, 2022, could celebrate its 59th foundation day.

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Speaking from Worli Dome, Eknath Shinde had responded with a jibe to Uddhav Thackeray’s quote of a dialogue from a Bollywood blockbuster – “If enemies come at me, I’ll say ‘Come on kill me’.”

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“How can one kill a man already dead? The people pretty much killed you in the assembly polls,” Eknath Shinde said, to applause from his audience.

“In 2024 assembly elections, the people have shown them (Shiv Sena UBT) their real face.. they betrayed Balasaheb Thackeray and his ideology of Hindutva,” he added.

The Deputy Chief Minister then peppered his attack with more recent events – the terror attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.

“Where were you after Pahalgam attack? Have you met any families who lost their loved ones in the attack? where was your Marathi love then… We are proud of Operation Sindoor. They raise doubts about our Army.. they don’t trust them. They believe on the Army chief of Pakistan. Instead of saluting bravery of soldiers they are asking of damages of our weapons… raising questions is equivalent to treason. They are acting like Pakistani agents,” he said, encompassing the whole opposition.

Uddhav Thackeray’s comments on the matter were no less sharp.

“You tied the hands of our army. We were ready to take over Pakistan – but then Trump called, and you went silent… “How did the four terrorists enter? Where were the Home Minister and the Defence Minister?” he had thundered from Mumbai’s Shanmukhanand hall.

“What is your definition of Hindutva? You criticise us for leaving Hindutva, but what about your leader who calls Colonel Sofiya Qureshi a sister of Pakistan,” he added.