Maharashtra is where, in this election, old enmities are being buried and new friendships forged. And so, seven kilometres apart in Mumbai, the battle between “asli” and “nakli” political formations, the usurped vs the usurpers, was played out on Friday evening.

At Shivaji Park was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navanirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray during a rally for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai, Friday, May 17, 2024. PTI

At Bandra Kurla Complex, the Opposition put up its show with former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, veteran Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

Uddhav went on to claim that the Shivaji Park rally addressed by Modi would be his last as PM in Mumbai. On his part, the unwavering Modi, promised to be back in India’s financial capital after leading the country to becoming the third largest economy in the world.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during a public meeting of I.N.D.I.A. for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai, Friday, May 17, 2024. PTI

Friday’s mega rallies in Mumbai happening almost around the same time were much more than mere muscle-flexing ahead of Monday’s fifth and Maharashtra’s final phase of polling when the remaining 13 of the state’s 48 constituencies will vote.

Both sides staked claim to being the “real” deal. Added to the civic challenges of hosting two mega political rallies was an IPL match at Wankhede Stadium forcing Mumbai Police to impose no-parking restrictions in 13 areas across the three localities.

Shivaji Park retains a symbolic importance and it was not by chance that Raj Thackeray decided on picking it as the venue. Sena founder Bal Thackeray would address his annual rallies and election meetings at this venue, where 13 years ago, he had introduced Uddhav’s son Aaditya Thackeray on the dais.

After spending five years in political wilderness during which he saw his cousin and once-rival in the Shiv Sena, Uddhav anointed chief minister, Raj, the other Thackeray known as a firebrand and aggressive leader, lost no time in holding the hand of the very man he had criticised at every public meeting in the run up to the 2019 general elections.

That time Raj Thackeray was “fact-checking” Modi with his “laav re video” campaigns when he criticised and even mocked the Prime Minister by playing old videos of Modi at meeting after meeting. The videos generated laughter and applause but made no difference on counting day.

The BJP, along with an undivided Shiv Sena, romped home winning 42 of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh’s 80.

In the 18-odd meetings that Modi has addressed in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the state, his attacks were personal, dubbing Uddhav Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, as “nakli” and the ailing but wily Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar as “bhatakti aatma (a wandering spirit)”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to Balasaheb Thackeray, in Mumbai, Friday, May 17, 2024. PTI

The Shivaji Park address by Modi, seeking a third straight term, was no different. The same Modi who had earlier in the week told select media that he never indulged in communal politics called out the Congress’s “hidden agenda”, accusing the Opposition party of promoting “vote jihad” and eyeing “the Mangalsutra (wedding neck band worn by Hindu women in some states)” and gold reserves in the temples.

“I ask the NCP leader, can he make Rahul assure that he will not abuse Savarkar?” Modi said at Shivaji Park. He accused the Mahavikas Aghadi (Opposition platform that was in power in Maharashtra from October 2019 to June 2022) of stealing the mandate in Maharashtra, referring to the formation of the post-poll alliance between the Congress, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party that placed Uddhav on the chief minister’s chair.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during a rally for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai, Friday, May 17, 2024. PTI

“When they stole the mandate and made the government, they stalled development projects, be it the Bullet Train, the Mumbai Metro, container terminal, freight corridor. They delayed and stalled everything,” Modi said. “They betrayed Balsaheb Thackeray when they joined hands with those who abuse the Ram temple for power. They gave a clean chit to Kasab (involved in the Mumbai attacks of November 2008), they speak the language of Pakistan on the surgical strikes. The Shiv Sena which was against infiltrators is now appeasing them for votes. No other party has changed as much as the nakli Shiv Sena.”

There was also a special mention of the “family” without naming the Gandhis.

“Every Prime Minister from the family – listen to their speeches from Red Fort and during election campaigns - chanted gareeb gareeb gareeb gareeb gareeb for at least ten minutes. They would tell people that you will remain poor. In ten years, Modi has brought out 25 crore people out of poverty,” he said and rolled out a list of impossibilities that he had turned into possibilities, including the consecration of the Ram temple, the abrogation of Article 370 (“I buried the wall of Article 370 in the graveyard”), and the women’s reservation bill (which won’t come into effect till 2026).

Another impossibility that Modi did not mention but did happen in Maharashtra is the coming together of the Opposition parties. At the Parivartan Sabha held at Bandra Kurla complex, all the party flags were on display: the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), Sharad Pawar’s NCP, along with those from the once sworn enemies of the Sena from six decades ago, the Left parties. RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav sent recorded video messages, both appealing to voters to “save the Constitution.”

“Whatever be the circumstances, Modi will not remain Prime Minister. On June 4, there will be de-modination in the country,” said Uddhav in his opening remarks. “You call me the ‘nakli santaan’. Who are you to give us certificates? The Shiv Sena that helped you, you call it fake? You stole our party, our symbol,” Uddhav said, reminding the gathering of the defections engineered by the BJP in June 2022 that brought down the MVA government which Uddhav headed.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during a public meeting of I.N.D.I.A. for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai. X / @ShivSenaUBT_

“Two days back several people were killed in a hoarding collapse. The blood on the road hadn’t even dried up, (but) Modi held a roadshow there,” he said.

“During Covid, when migrant workers from the states in the north wanted to go home despite our repeated requests Modi and Amit Shah refused to run trains. They had to walk home. He says the river Ganga has adopted him. Couldn’t he see the corpses floating in the Ganga during the pandemic?

“Why do you keep calling Muslims infiltrators? Why raise Pakistan and not talk about unemployment, price rise in your speeches?” Thackeray wanted to know from Modi.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal – out on bail in the Delhi liquor scam – told Mumbai voters that only they could ensure he didn’t have to go back to prison next month. “I will track the counting of votes from behind bars. Those who want to see me in prison can vote for the BJP,” said Kejriwal.

Delhi CM and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during a public meeting of I.N.D.I.A. for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai, Friday, May 17, 2024. PTI

The Delhi chief minister said the template Modi was using in this election was the same used in Russia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“Putin jailed all his opponents or killed them and won the elections. If there is no Opposition, the ruler will bag all the votes. In Bangladesh and Pakistan, the same thing happened. Modi wants to turn our country into Bangladesh and Pakistan. You have to decide which way you want to take the country,” he said.

“The Congress’s accounts were frozen ahead of the polls. A conspiracy was hatched and a fake case registered under which Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain and I were arrested. If Modi returns to power, Uddhav Thackeray, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Priyanka (Gandhi) all will be in jail. Modi wants a dictatorship in this country.”

The usual rhetoric apart on Modi making other BJP leaders irrelevant to ensure Amit Shah’s eventual takeover, Kejriwal also raised an issue that could actually come to hurt Uddhav and Pawar’s parties: the newly symbols.

Following the split in the Shiv Sena and the NCP, the original symbols of both parties, the bow and arrow of the Sena and the clock went to Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Uddhav Thackeray was handed the mashaal (flaming torch), while Sharad Pawar’s outfit’s new symbol is a man blowing a traditional trumpet.

“There is confusion among the people on the symbol. People are rejecting the BJP, but if they cast their votes on the wrong symbol then all this effort will be undone. Go and tell the people what are the new symbols of the real Shiv Sena and the real NCP,” said Kejriwal, pointing to the two tallest politicians who joined forces under unusual circumstances. Both were hit by the same weapon: betrayal.

Most of the voters of Maharashtra have already given their verdict, which will be revealed on June 4. The outcome will decide if Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar remain in the ring to take on the emerging political challenges when they bid for the state Assembly later this year.