Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena faction admitted that more people attended Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Dussehra rally.The Thackeray faction claimed more than 2.5 lakh people attended their rally while an estimated 3 lakh were atShinde's. For Thackeray, it was the biggest rally ever in recent pst.
For Shinde, too, it was a huge achievement, since it was his maiden rally of such a scale. Police estimate the Thackeray rally was attended by 1 lakh people against 2 lakh for Shinde's, TOI reprt stated.
The capacity at Shivaji Park is 80,000 while BKC's is 1 lakh. Shinde had organized food for 3 lakh people. An effigy of Ravana is burnt every year at the Shiv Sena's Dusshera rally. This year, the Sena's Ravana effigy was made of 50 khoke (boxes) and party president Uddhav Thackeray called it Khokasur. The "50 khoke" reference is to the alleged Rs 50 crore taken by rebel Sena MLAs and MPs to join chief minister Eknath Shinde's faction. The effigy made of cartons or boxes with the number 50 written in bold in the middle was burnt at the end of the rally after Uddhav's speech, TOI report further stated.
The Uddhav-led rally was termed as that of loyalists. In a poster near the stage was a picture of late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's with the caption, "I won't let my Shiv Sena become a slave of the BJP."