Due to coronavirus, the state government has banned the celebration of Dahihandi festival. The BJP and MNS have opposed this and MNS had said that they will celebrate Dahihandi festival in Thane and Mumbai. Despite the police security, the MNS defied orders and proceeded with the human pyramid Dahihandi celebration in Thane, Mumbai at night and around dawn.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will broke the dahi handi in Thane at 12 o'clock at night. The activists were arrested, but were released on bail around 2 am. The MNS had said it will celebrate the festival come what may. Abhijeet Panse and Avinash Jadhav also had a scuffle with the police. The dahi handi was smashed in the grounds of Bhagwati School. There were 250 workers at the time.
We do what we decide, Dahihandi festival will be celebrated, said MNS leader Avinash Jadhav. "We also get calls from outside states. Dahihandi should be celebrated in Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray should do it," Jadhav said. Abhijit Panse had said that we will celebrate Marathi festivals. As a result, MNS has set up dahi handis in some places including Vartaknagar in Thane today. Also in Bhandup in Mumbai, Dahihandi was broken in the morning. Some activists were arrested in Thane at this time.
Dahihandi could have been celebrated with some rules on the background of the corona. Restrictions like age , height of the dahi handi and people allowed could have been imposed. Everyone would have agreed; Bala Nandgaonkar has alleged that the role of the state government is wrong.