The BJP has organised 'dahi handi utsav' at 400 places in the city and also provided an insurance cover of Rs.10 lakh each to 25,000 'govindas' from more than 450 mandals, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar said on Wednesday. Hailing the ruling MahaYuti coalition for celebrating various festivals with vigour, he said, “The dahi handi celebrations will begin from the Jambori Maidan in Worli. The best mandal will be rewarded Rs3.33 lakh while others will also get attractive prizes.”
This year, with an ambition to dominate the celebrations, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena is out to corner the Thackeray faction. While a grand show of strength has been planned at Tembhi Naka, Thane, the CM’s home turf, the party has also booked many locations in Kalyan and Dombivali, where local leaders are tasked to oversee the events. Kalyan and Dombivali are the chief minister’s son MP Shrikant Shinde’s Lok Sabha constituency.
Earlier this week, the Thackeray camp had challenged the local police’s decision to permit the Shinde camp to organise Dahi Handi at the key Shivaji Chowk, Kalyan, but Bombay high court’s division bench ordered in CM’s favour on Wednesday, as his party had applied for the space first. The order stated that the Thackeray camp organise the festivities about 100 meters away from the Shivaji Chowk.With an eye on both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the BJP is seeking to project that change is in the air. “All the MPs, MLAs and local office bearers have organised Dahi Handi dotting the city, and to drive home the message of ‘parivartan’ it has organised a Dahi Handi at Jambori ground, Worli,” said state BJP president Ashish Shelar. Worli is Aaditya Thackeray’s constituency.