Uddhav Thackeray's brother, sister-in-law & nephew attend Eknath Shinde's Dussehra rally

In what may very well be seen as a face-off for the legacy of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, the Dussehra rally of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde saw in attendance the family members of Uddhav Thackeray on October 5, Wednesday.

At the rally taking place at the MMRDA ground at Bandra Kurla Complex, facing the stage in the front row couch was Nihar Thackeray, the son of Bal Thackeray's elder son and Uddhav’s brother Bindumadhav Thackeray. Next to him was Smita Thackeray, ex-wife of Bal Thackeray's son and Uddhav Thackeray's brother Jaidev, who was also sitting on the stage. He extended his support to Shinde. 

Big Dussehra rally faceoff

Earlier in the day, taking to Twitter,  without directly naming Uddhav, Shinde quoted a verse of renowned poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. "Mere bete, bete hone se uttaradhikari nahi honge, Jo mere uttaradhikari honge, wo mere bete honge (By virtue of being sons, my sons will not be my successors, those who will be my successors, will be sons to me)," said Shinde in the post on the microblogging site.

For the first time since the Shiv Sena's inception 56 years ago, two Dussehra rallies are to be held in the Maharashtra capital. Both Shinde and Uddhav groups were recently confronted over its celebrations at Shivaji Park in the Dadar area of Central Mumbai, a venue associated with the Shiv Sena since its inception in 1966. However, the Bombay High Court's decision came in favour of the Uddhav camp, which paved way for it to hold its rally at the historic Shivaji Park. Defeated, the Shinde camp held its rally at the MMRDA ground at BKC. 

Both the camps have claimed they are taking forward the ideals of Bal Thackeray, who was known to make fiery speeches at the Dussehra rallies at Shivaji Park year after year till his death in 2012.