With eye on LS polls, politicians throng Mumbai Metropolitan Region on occasion of Dahi Handi

With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls less than a year away, top politicians crisscrossed the financial capital of Mumbai and the adjoining Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) on Thursday on the occasion of Janmashtami-Dahi Handi - in what was seen as a massive outreach programme.

The Mumbai-MMR, comprising the twin districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban and neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad - is known for the Dahi Handi festivities.

During the festival, Govindas, as the participants or revellers are known, re-enact the myth of Lord Krishna stealing butter from a hanging pot, known as the dahi-handi. They form human pyramids to reach out to the earthen pot filled with curd and break it.

In fact, on 31 August, the Maharashtra government hosted the Pro Govinda League and appointed actor Abhishek Bachchan as the brand ambassador.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde participated in several festivities including in Tembi Naka in Thane city. “Next year, in the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would break the Dahi Handi,” he said, adding that the I.N.D.I.A opposition alliance is not going to succeed and the statements on Sanatan Dharma reflect it.

Mumbai Mahila Congress broke a symbolic Handi as a unique initiative to protest against rising oppression and the increase in incidents of atrocities against women, casteism, and inflation in the country.

Mumbai Congress President and MLA Varsha Gaikwad spearheaded the ceremony and Mahila Congress workers attended in large numbers. "Corruption has only worsened during the Modi regime that assumed power by blowing its trumpet against corruption. Besides that, inflation reached a new high. The number of cases of atrocities against women across the country has also increased. The symbolic Handi breaking is to protest the state of affairs in India," Gaikwad said.

The BJP organised Dahi Handi across Mumbai-MMR on a big scale.

In Worli, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray’s team hosted the festivities.