Fadnavis Attends 14, Shinde 20 Dahi Handis: Festival Turns into Political Showdown Ahead of BMC Polls

Mumbai: The streets of Mumbai reverberated with chants of “Govinda Ala Re” on Saturday, but the real contest wasn’t just among human pyramids trying to smash dangling pots of curd and cash. This year, Dahi Handi doubled up as a political battleground, where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde scrambled for visibility with a zeal rivaling the govindas themselves.

Fadnavis made his presence felt at 14 Dahi Handis, while Shinde outpaced him by attending nearly 20 events, marking an unmissable show of strength. Significantly, half of Fadnavis’s appearances were in Thane and adjoining belts, Shinde’s traditional bastion — a move widely read as the BJP’s attempt to carve a bigger slice of influence there, irrespective of alliance niceties with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

At Worli’s Parivartan Dahi Handi, hosted right inside Aaditya Thackeray’s constituency, Fadnavis launched a pointed attack on the Sena (UBT). “We have broken the handi of sins of those who looted the BMC,” he thundered, promising that the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance was offering a “handi of development.” His statement, with Mumbai’s civic polls around the corner, underscored the BJP’s strategy to weaponise corruption allegations against the Thackeray faction.

Flanked by Mumbai BJP chief and Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar, the CM left little doubt that the ruling combine is eyeing the country’s richest civic body with renewed aggression. His remarks came just days after Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut suggested that Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray’s MNS might join hands for the upcoming civic elections — a prospect the BJP is determined to counter.

Interestingly, even as Fadnavis sharpened his attacks on the Uddhav camp, he struck a softer chord in Thane. At the famed Tembhi Naka Dahi Handi, he hailed Shinde as the “true Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb Thackeray” and rightful heir to Anand Dighe’s legacy — a symbolic olive branch wrapped in political messaging.

Since the Shinde-Fadnavis government assumed power in 2022, Dahi Handi has undergone a makeover, with the festival being officially declared an “adventure sport.” Insurance coverage for over one lakh govindas has been projected as proof that the state cares for those risking their lives atop human pyramids — a welfare plank the government hopes will translate into political dividends.