Mumbai: Protest may show the true state of Shiv Sena (UBT)

A morcha called by Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, against alleged irregularities in the BMC, will be a litmus test for the Shiv Sena he leads. The strength of the morcha will decide whether the Sena (UBT) is still as strong as it was earlier.

In an attempt to garner a crowd of over 45,000 people, each of the party's 227 shakhas have been given a target of getting 200 participants. Party workers have been told to travel by public transport to avoid traffic jams and inconvenience to people when they arrive to participate in the Aaditya Thackeray-led morcha.

"We are holding meetings of karyakarta in every shakha. Our leader has presented information about the big scam in the BMC during the past one year. We are collecting information about the scam at the ward level. Besides our karyakarta, people who love the city and see the exploitation of taxpayers' money will also participate in the morcha," said Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjana Ghadi.

The Dussehra rally of Shiv Sena (UBT) at Shivaji Park saw a huge crowd in 2022. Pic/Ashish Raje

Shekhar Chavan, shakha pramukh of UBT Chembur said, "We have at least 60 gataneta in every shakha and other functionaries at the shakha level. They will all participate in the morcha."

Former corporator of Kurla East Kamlakar Naik said, "Our morcha is about the misuse of taxpayers' money. It will start from Metro Junction at Fort in the evening. We are taking care to ensure that it doesn't inconvenience citizens. For that, we will go to Metro junction by local train instead of private vehicles. So traffic jams will be avoided," he said.

A source from the party said, "We have a target to gather at least 150 to 200 party workers from each shakha. It is easy for us, as the party has a good structure in the city." There are 227 shakhas of Sena (UBT) in the city. The party has targeted road repairs, street furniture, sanitary pads vending machines and scams in giving tenders, etc. by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

According to records, except for three years from 1992 to 1995, since 1985, the Shiv Sena has ruled the BMC continuously. Even after the BMC terms expired in March 2022, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's party dominated it. But after Thackeray resigned at the chief minister, for the first time in more than three decades he is away from BMC.

Aaditya Thackeray had held a morcha in 2018 regarding the problem in the education system against the state government. Then, Shiv Sena was part of BJP-led state government. The morcha was taken from Girgaon Chowpatty to Islam Gymkhana.