Thane: Workers of the rival Shiv Sena factions led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray indulged in sloganeering and heated exchange at Anand Ashram in Thane’s Tembhi Naka area on Sunday evening. The clash led to traffic disruptions in the area.
The residence of the late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, Anand Ashram serves as the party office of Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
On Sunday, the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) organised a rally in Thane ahead of the civic elections. Despite a strong police presence, tensions escalated when senior leaders, including Vinayak Raut, Sanjay Raut, and Chandrakant Khaire, arrived at Anand Ashram to pay their respects to Dighe. The rival Sena faction members confronted each other and started sloganeering. The situation intensified when the Sena (UBT) leaders proceeded to Shakti Sthal, Dighe’s memorial, where another round of slogan shouting erupted between the two groups.
Former Thane mayor Minakshi Shinde condemned the event, calling it an insult to Dighe’s legacy. She defended Shiv Sena’s decision to perform a ‘Dudh Abhishek’ (milk offering) at the memorial to “purify” the site.
The political blame game took centre stage at the Sena (UBT) rally with Sanjay Raut launching a scathing attack on the Shinde faction. He accused the Prime Minister of orchestrating the split in the Shiv Sena and criticised Shinde for betraying the party. Raut claimed that Shinde was misled by the “ruling powers”. His remarks fuelled tensions, as supporters from both factions continued their war of words.