The show of strength between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray on Dussehra day -- customary since Shiv Sena split -- continued this year too. With months to go before the Lok Sabha elections, the two leaders attacked each other in strong language. Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the country needs a strong government but not of one party with brute majority.
Speaking at his party’s annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, Thackeray said when the “chair” (of ruler) is unstable, the country becomes strong.He batted for a “mili-juli sarkar” and referred to the governments under Manmohan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.“We saw a strong government. There should be a strong government, but not of any one party with a brute majority,” he said, targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his friend-turned-foe.Uddhav Thackeray alleged that Mr Shinde, though he professes to be an ardent follower of Balasaheb, had actually left him to "go to a Five Star". "If he can do this to our father, what will happen to someone else?" he demanded.The Shiv Sena split in June last year after Mr Shinde and his loyalist MLAs rebelled and pulled down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Mr Shinde then formed government with the support of the BJP.The Uddhav Thackeray faction has since dubbed them "traitors".