Mumbai/Pune As many as six people, including Shiv Sena chief Sanjay More and a party office-bearer Baban Thorat were arrested by the Pune police on Wednesday for allegedly attacking former minister and Sena rebel MLA Uday Samant’s car.
However, this attack is likely to escalate tension between the two warring factions of the saffron party. It even led to chief minister Eknath Shinde directing the state police chief to provide more security to the MLAs from his faction. While the Shinde camp is furious over the attack, the Uddhav Thackeray faction said it could be a spontaneous reaction of the Sena workers.
An angry Shinde faction pointed out that the top leadership of the party itself was encouraging its cadre to get aggressive against the rebels.
Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson for Shinde camp, said that the Shiv Sena leaders need to stop giving hateful speeches against them. “They (Shiv Sena leaders) must exercise restraint and stop giving hateful speeches in the interest of the state,” Kesarkar said.
He was pointing fingers at Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, who have been publicly chastising the rebels. “If attacks are happening like this, even the role of Uddhav Thackeray could come under the scanner,” said another rebel MLA Abdul Sattar.
The Shiv Sena’s characteristic aggression against Shinde and his rebels was missing in the initial weeks and party leaders attributed this to the dissidents not targeting the Thackeray family at a personal level and party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s attempt to gentrify the party on lines of his personality, which helped smoothen its rough edges. However, of late, Shinde and his supporters like former minister Tanaji Sawant have launched bitter attacks on Thackeray and his son.
Gradually, the tensions between the two rival camps have also gone up several notches. On Tuesday, Thackeray and Shinde supporters clashed at a party shakha in Dombivli in Thane district over the installation of Shinde’s photo in the party office, while on the same evening, Samant’s car was attacked by alleged Shiv Sainiks in Pune.
“This is harmful for Maharashtra… this tendency needs to be broken down,” Samant charged after the attack, adding that physical attacks were not the way to fight political battles.
However, Shiv Sena leaders claimed that this was a reflection of the popular anger at the rebels. “These reactions are finding resonance everywhere in the state. The people have not liked this. If someone has rebelled and is moving around with a holier-than-thou attitude, not just Shiv Sainiks, but even the common man will be upset,” said senior Shiv Sena leader and former industries minister Subhash Desai.
More skirmishes between the two factions might be in store for the future in Mumbai and other parts of the state as the civic polls are scheduled to be held in a couple of months.
In Mumbai and Mumbai metropolitan region, as well as cities like Pune and Aurangabad, there could be bitter fights between the two factions, according to the leaders from both the camps.