Shinde, Uddhav factions at loggerheads to mark Shiv Sena foundation day in Mumbai

A year after the split in Shiv Sena, both the Sena factions - led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde are gearing up to celebrate the foundation day of the Shiv Sena on June 19 by organising events at two separate venues in Mumbai. The events are likely to be marked by verbal duels as both factions will try to prove themselves as the real inheritor of the mantle of party founder late Bal Thackeray's legacy ahead of the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections. 

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after the rebellion of Shinde against the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the party name and 'bow and arrow' symbol was allotted later to the former. The Thackeray faction was christened Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). 

Events to be organised: 

• Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will organise its event at NESCO ground in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai. 
• The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasahev Thackeray) will hold its event in Shanmukhanand Hall at Sion in Central Mumbai. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' said Uddhav Thackeray will also address his supporters in Worli, which is the Assembly seat of his son and former state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray. The Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray who championed the cause of the sons of the soil.

Last year, Eknath Shinde's rebellion brought down the Uddhav Thackeray government after which the former became Chief minister on June 30 with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Uddhav faction is part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi also including the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.