Shut schools, not the festivities: Sena, MNS

At the time when they are aggressively demanding closure of public places including schools, cinema halls and shopping malls, the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are reluctant to tone down the Janmashtami celebrations.

Though Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and his MNS chief Raj Thackeray appealed to the people not to crowd around the dahi handis, they did not want to reduce the number of dahi handis, mostly sponsored by the political parties.

“Taking into consideration the gravity of the situation, people should avoid gathering in large numbers at the dahi-handi celebrations,” Uddhav said. When asked what about the Ganeshotsav, he said, “There is still enough time for that. I hope the swine flu will be under control by that time. By the blessings of lord Ganesha, Mumbai has not faced any major problem till date,” he said.

Raj also said that people should stay away from the Janmashtami celebrations. “We cannot ask anybody to reduce the number of dahi handis to minimise gathering of the people. But if it happens, we will welcome the move,” he said.

While Janmashtami will be celebrated on August 14, the Ganesh Festival will begin on August 23.