Nestled off the busy Swatantryaveer Savarkar Road, Shivaji Park ground is one of Mumbai's largest green lungs. It also has the pride of place in history as it's where veterans like communist stalwart Shripad Amrit Dange and littérateur-orator Acharya Atre held forth, and where the battle for Samyukta Maharashtra was fought.
The two sons-of-soil parties which are now vying for the attention of the dwindling Maharashtrian population in Mumbai, also have an organic link to the around 28-acre ground. It was here that Shiv Sena held its first public rally on Oct 30, 1966 after it was formed at Sena chief late Bal Thackeray’s then residence, at Ranade Road next door, on June 19, 1966. In 2012, Thackeray Sr's mortal remains were consigned to flames at this ground, which was called Mahim Park and re-christened after warrior-king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1927.
Bal Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj announced the formation of his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) at Shivaji Park on May 9, 2006. Raj's residence ‘Krishnakunj’ is located on the fringe of the park, which also houses the Maharashtrian cultural elite; Sena's headquarters, Sena Bhavan, is located close-by.
With cultural and political legacy at stake apart from the psychological advantage of winning from this area, Sena and MNS are locked in a battle for supremacy in the Mahim constituency under which Dadar falls: its latest manifestation being the political tug-of-war between Sena and MNS over launching free WiFi service at Shivaji Park.
MNS wrested Mahim assembly seat and all the seven civic wards from Sena and there are speculations that Raj, who has announced his decision to contest assembly polls, might fight from here. However, the comfortable margin netted by Sena MP Rahul Shewale in the assembly segment over Eknath Gaikwad (Cong) and Aditya Shirodkar (MNS) has given Sena the a much needed booster shot.
Sena's fortunes began heading south in 2004 when Gaikwad shocked the then Lok Sabha speaker and former chief minister Manohar Joshi from Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha seat and followed it up with another victory in 2009. A triangular fight and factionalism saw Sena trounced by Nitin Sardesai of MNS. These defeats had hurt Thackeray Sr, who mentioned this in his swansong at the annual Dusshera rally at Shivaji Park in 2012.
However, buoyed by its unprecedented success in the 2014 polls, Sena is looking at making a clean breast in the assembly polls. “In Lok Sabha elections, we secured a 48,000 lead... in the assembly polls, this will rise,” claimed former Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar.
“Lok Sabha voting pattern differ vastly from that of assembly polls. In the Lok Sabha poll, people voted for Modi and not Shiv Sena. MNS has seven corporators in the area; Raj saheb also stays here. We will get enough votes to win,” said MNS corporator Sandeep Deshpande.
Residents say that the current political sniping over issues like Wifi is akin to missing the woods for the trees. They point out that the area, which fell under the Dadar- Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme, the first such suburban town planning project, is now ailing from poor civic amenities and creaky infrastructure.
“Actually, there is excessive focus on Shivaji Park. Dadar is a much bigger area,” said a local, adding that issues like cluster redevelopment, traffic problems in spots like Kabutarkhana, illegal hawkers, narrow roads and encroached footpaths needed attention. “Dadar and Mahim beaches need to be developed and beautified,” he stressed, adding that better policing was necessary to curb house-breaking and criminals targeting senior citizens. “Political parties must focus on the creaking infrastructure in Dadar. The battle over WiFi is an example of showmanship,” he added.
Thackeray family's connections with the area runs deep. Bal Thackeray's father and author-social reformer, 'Prabodhankar' Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, was a long-time Dadar resident, who began the first public Navratri celebrations at the Khandke building chawl in 1926 to counter the 'Brahmanical' Ganesh utsav, where other castes were not allowed to worship the deity.
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