New Delhi: Tensions prevailed in Mira-Bhayandar town of Maharashtra’s Thane district where workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) (Shiv Sena (UBT)) held a joint march on Tuesday (July 9) in support of “Marathi Asmita (pride)”

The MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT), which recently joined hands after their respective leaders Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray recently shared the stage after two decades, held the march as a counter event to a traders’ rally held last week to protest against a sweet shop owner being slapped by MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi.

Maharashtra Minister Pratap Sarnaik who is from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, wanted to participate in the march but was heckled as “traitor”. He was subsequently forced to leave the spot, reported The Hindu.

While opposition parties targeted Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the state home department, accusing them of being responsible for fuelling the issue by “denying the democratic right to hold a rally”, the Chief Minister rejected the allegations.

“The party [MNS] was asked to take a different route,” said Fadnavis.

Opposition leaders including Aaditya Thackeray from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) slammed the government, with the latter saying that the Chief Minister and the Home Department were solely responsible for the tensions during the march by the two parties.

"CM Fadnavis says he is ready to grant permission, but only if we change our rally route. That is nothing but a tactic to suppress our voice," said MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande, reported Press Trust of India.

The situation at the march became tense when police started detaining protesters, with some of them being picked up by the police while they were addressing the media.

Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sarnaik, who was earlier heckled by the MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers, also criticised the police.

"The police's action was completely wrong. The government has not issued any such instructions to suppress a peaceful morcha in support of Marathi interests," Sarnaik told reporters.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.