Mumbai gears up for a grand show-of-strength as Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde take Sena vs Sena battle to Dussehra rallies

Mumbai: The ongoing rivalry between the Uddhav Thackeray camp and Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena is set to play out in the open as the two leaders will address Dussehra rallies in Mumbai on Wednesday. Security measures are in place as Uddhav Thackeray will be addressing a rally at the traditional venue - Shivaji Park. Shinde's Dussehra rally will be organized at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), located close to 'Matoshree', Thackeray's residence.

"Thousands of people are expected from across the state for both rallies and, therefore, arrangements have been made to ensure law and order and deal with any untoward incident. Local police as well as additional cover by other units will be in place," an official told news agency PTI.

Anticipating likely clashes in case the supporters of the two sides come face to face with each other, the Mumbai Police teams visited BKC and Shivaji Park on Monday. Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil said that security measures are in place to maintain law and order. Shinde too visited the two venues to review the preparedness.

"I have visited the venue (in BKC) and the preparations are in full swing. Lakhs of people from across the state will come to the rally and all departments are working to ensure they don't face any problem. Our preparations will get over tomorrow (Tuesday) and this rally will be a success," Shinde was quoted as saying in the agency report.

According to Shinde camp officials, 4,000-5,000 buses have been booked by MLAs and MPs to ferry their supporters to and from the venue. The rallies are being viewed as a show-of-strength of the two factions, both of which have been claiming that they are the 'real Shiv Sena'.