Mumbai: On Friday, the Gokulashtami celebrations in the city provided an opportunity for political parties to court dahi handi mandals, with an eye on the upcoming civic elections.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) city chief Ashish Shelar hit the streets to visit the events. The ruling Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and BJP tried to score over the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Potshots were the flavour of the day.
Shinde visited 11 mandals in Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Mira-Bhayander and Thane – a first for a chief minister to do so. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis participated in the celebrations at six places in Worli, Ghatkopar, Borivali and Thane.
Not to be left behind, Shiv Sena leader and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray made halts at Tardeo, Dadar, Worli, Bandra, Kandivali and Thane.
The BJP however, scored in the game of one-upmanship, grabbing the Jambori Maidan at Worli, a traditional venue for dahi handi celebrations by the Shiv Sena, and Aaditya Thackeray’s constituency.
The political rivals did not let go of the opportunity to throw barbs at one another, with the chief minister setting the tone for the day.
“A month-and-a-half ago, we also broke a dahi handi. We put 50 layers for that,” remarked Shinde, speaking at a pandal in Thane, referring to him pulling down the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government by walking out with 50 MLAs from the Shiv Sena, along with independents from smaller parties. “More layers will be added soon,” he announced, garnering applause from the crowd. The deputy chief minister was equally cogent as he said in Worli, “We will soon break the dahi handi of corruption in BMC.”
The city BJP president Ashish Shelar hit out at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, saying, “Sena has forgotten Marathi and Hindu festivals. It abandoned Hindutva long ago and imposed restrictions when it was in power. I thank the Shinde-Fadnavis government for lifting all the curbs, which has resulted in the festival being celebrated with fervour.”
Aaditya Thackeray hit back, saying, “These are childish remarks. I don’t want to bring politics into these celebrations. Let the elections be held and we will come to know what happens.”
Traditionally, Shiv Sena used festivals like Ganeshotsav and dahi handi to spread its influence. In 1926, ‘Prabodhankar’ Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the anti-caste activist, social reformer and father of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, had started public celebrations of Navratri at Dadar, which was later taken across Maharashtra.
The rival Shinde camp and BJP have taken a leaf out of Shiv Sena’s book in reaching out to the mandals, govinda troupes and Ganesh mandals for the Ganesh festival scheduled to begin at the end of the month.
BJP organised dahi handi celebrations at 370 prominent locations across the city, largely in western suburbs where it enjoys a strong base. “Local party leaders including MPs, MLAs and corporators offer financial assistance to govinda mandals for practise, food, transportation, clothes and insurance. This way the party gets directly connected to the youngsters in their 20s and 30s, and their families. It helps a lot in the elections,” said a leader from BJP.
Shinde camp MLAs such as Prakash Surve and Pratap Sarnaik took the initiative to oraganise celebrations in their constituencies. While Shinde supporters revived a dahi handi at Tembhi Naka in Thane, which was started by late Sena leader Anand Dighe, Sena MP from Thane Rajan Vichare also organised a similar programme. In Dadar, Sena youth wing, Yuva Sena, organised the same, calling it “Nishtha (loyalty) Handi”.
The war between the parties has offered an opportunity for mandals to cash in. A senior Shiv Sena leader noted that each assembly constituency in Mumbai had an average of around 100 small and large mandals. “There are two types of govinda mandals — those committed to a party and another where members hop from one party to another for resources and aid. This time, we are focussing on mandals which are committed to us,” he said, adding this time the demands of these mandals had soared.