 workers clash in Thane as drift between Uddhav & Raj Thackeray widens)
Uddhav & Raj Thackeray
Credit: PTI Images
Thane: In a new low for the estranged Thackeray cousins - the workers of Uddhav and Raj engaged in heavy sloganeering in the Thane city - as a fallout of the ongoing reservation issue in Maharashtra on Saturday evening.
The incident took place when Uddhav, the Head of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), arrived at the Ram Ganesh Gadkari Rangayatan in Thane, and met with protests by workers of Raj, the president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Incidentally, Thane City is the bastion of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is now the Chief Leader of Shiv Sena after deposing Uddhav.
Firebrand Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, who is the mentor of Shinde, hailed from Thane.
As a matter of fact, the Gadkari Rangayatan, a popular hall in Thane, was inaugurated by late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
On Friday, Raj’s convoy was targetted in Beed district by sloganeering and by Shiv Sena (UBT) workers and they also threw `supari' (betel nuts) and tomatoes.
On Saturday morning, Raj, while speaking to reporters, said: “Don’t cross my path…else you would not be able to address any election rally…I can't predict what MNS workers would do.”
Hours later, on Saturday evening, as Uddhav’s convoy arrived and he was entering the hall, MNS workers came and engaged in sloganeering and threw ‘chudi’ (bangles), tomatoes, coconut and slush.
Several female workers of the MNS courted arrest following the incident.
Over the past few days, Raj had been facing criticism for his comments that Maharashtra does not need reservation but proper financial planning and giving jobs to people.
A huge posse of police personnel has been deputed at the venue to avert an untoward incident.