With the crucial elections to major municipal corporations in the State just round the corner, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and its alliance partner BJP on Friday reached out to voters in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, and other civic poll-bound cities across the State, by organising ‘Dahi Handi’ events through their elected representatives and local leaders.
The importance of ‘Dahi Handi’ politics can be evidenced from the fact that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed rallies at Thane, trying to expand their base by humouring the people ahead of the municipal corporation elections.
At his rally, Shinde — who hails from Thane — invoked the name of his late mentor and local Shiv Sena strongman Anand Dighe and said that the late Sena leader wanted a Shiv Sainik from Thane to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a wish that had now been fulfilled.
“Late Dighe saab had expressed his desire to his sister about his wish that a Shiv Sainik from Thane should become a Chief Minister one day. Dighe saab’s sister told me about the late Sena leader’s wish. With my becoming the Chief Minister’s late Dighe saab’s wish has been fulfilled,” Shinde said, addressing the rally at Tembi Naka.
This festival had been started by the late Dight under the auspices of Tembi Naka Mitra Mandal.
Alluding to tall human pyramids being formed during ‘Dahi Handi’ celebrations, Shinde gloated as to how he had toppled the Uddhav Thackeray Government.
“You people (Govindas) are breaking ‘dahi handi’ now, but we broke the most difficult ‘dahi handi’ one-and-half months back by climbing 50 strong layers of ‘Dahi Handi’”, he said, as he indirectly recalled how he had walked away with the 50 Shiv Sena MLAs to form a Government in the State in alliance with the BJP.
Shinde’s rally came a day after he declared the popular ‘Dahi Handi’ tradition as a sports event and announced it would give away prizes for “professional Govinda” competition for revellers in the State from this year onwards.
“In countries like Spain and China, human pyramids are treated as sport events. We in Maharashtra would also henceforth have ‘Dahi Handi’ as sport events like Kabbadi, Kho Kho, etc,” Shinde had said in the State Assembly.