Police seize 'provocative' decoration material on Shiv Sena split at Kalyan Ganesh pandal
THANE: Police on Wednesday seized "objectionable and provocative" decoration material related to a recent split in Shiv Sena at a Ganesh pandal in Kalyan city in Thane district of Maharashtra, an official said.
The seizure included the cutouts put out as the decoration display for the ten-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival which began on Wednesday.
Vijay Tarun Mandal president Vijay Salvi said the action by the police was unwarranted and amounted to "autocracy".
Later, a group of Shiv Sainiks including local leaders and office-bearers performed a "maha aarti" against the police action.
"Every year we display various topics at our pandal and this year's theme was the split in Shiv Sena. The police action is 'Hitlersahi'," he alleged and added that the Mandal will not celebrate the Ganesh festival this year as a mark of protest.
The Mandal has been celebrating the festival for the last 58 years.
He claimed the organisers had shown the decorative display to the police earlier and even made certain changes as directed.
A Kalyan police officer said the Vijay Tarun Mandal had indulged in such provocative and objectionable decorations in the past also.
A case has been registered against officials of the Vijay Tarun Mandal.
Senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs had rebelled against the party leadership in June, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Shinde became the chief minister on June 30 with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).