'Avoid confrontation': NCP's Sharad Pawar advises CM Eknath Shinde over Dussehra rally venue row

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar advised, "A Chief Minister should avoid confrontation and bring everyone along." The NCP chief's warning comes as both Shiv Sena factions seek to hold the party's annual Dussehra rally at Mumbai's Shivaji Park.  

Amid the ongoing word war between the Eknath Shinde faction and the Uddhav Thackeray faction over the location of the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar advised Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to 'avoid confrontation.' The NCP chief's warning comes as both Shiv Sena factions seek Shivaji Park as the location for the party's annual Dussehra rally.

"A Chief Minister should avoid confrontation and bring everyone along," said Pawar, one of the leaders of Maharashtra's now-defunct Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP.

MLA Sada Sarvankar of the Shinde camp wrote to the BMC requesting permission to hold the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, the party's traditional location; this action has fueled speculation that a dispute is on the horizon. "Shiv Sainiks continue the Dussehra rally custom to advance the Hindutva philosophy that the late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray promoted. Accordingly, as per media reports, we are preparing for this rally under a single flag, ideology, and leadership," the letter read. 

When asked about Pawar's advice to the CM, Naresh Mhaske of the Shinde group questioned why the NCP chief was not advising Aaditya Thackeray.

"Did Pawar advise the then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to avoid confrontation when he arrested Union minister Narayan Rane while he was having a meal? Is Pawar requesting restraint from 'Yuvraj' (an apparent reference to Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray) when he makes comments against Shinde?" Mhaske of the Shinde faction said. 

Shinde overthrew Uddhav Thackeray's leadership and formed a government in Maharashtra with the help of the BJP.