The two factions of the Shiv Sena led by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his rival Eknath Shinde on Wednesday criticised each other over the split in the party at two Dussehra rallies held in Mumbai.

This was the first time since the Shiv Sena’s inception 56 years ago, that two rallies were held in Mumbai on the occasion of Dussehra. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena held its rally at Shivaji Park, where it has been organised every year since 1996. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held his side’s rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

The rallies are being seen as a show of strength as both sides are claiming to be the “real” Shiv Sena.

At his rally, Thackeray challenged Shinde and his faction to speak about Hindutva “without taking the script” from the Bharatiya Janata Party, The Indian Express reported.

Thackeray said that he does not need to learn about Hindutva from the saffron party. “Just because we have broken the alliance with BJP doesn’t mean we have abandoned Hindutva,” he said. “I am a Hindu today and will be Hindu forever”

Thackeray also described the Shinde faction as “traitors” and said that their reputation will never be washed away.

“I will call them gaddar [traitors],” he said, according to the newspaper. “Ministerial post is for few days, but the stamp of gaddar is for a lifetime.”

Meanwhile, Shinde appeared with Uddhav Thackeray’s brother Jaidev Thackeray at the rally in Bandra Kurla Complex.

He said that the crowd at his rally was proof enough to show who the true inheritors of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s legacy were, PTI reported.

Shinde added that the Shiv Sena was not a private limited company and was built through the hard work of common party workers.

“Maharashtra voters elected you and the BJP in Assembly elections, but you betrayed people by allying with Congress and NCP,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “Uddhav should kneel down at Bal Thackeray’s memorial in Mumbai and apologise for betraying the people of Maharashtra.”

Also read: How Dussehra has become the opportunity for rival Shiv Sena factions to prove their ground strength

The Sena vs Sena battle

Chaos had ensued in the Shiv Sena in June after Shinde and a group of party MLAs rebelled against the former Maharashtra government – a coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

After more than a week of political drama, the coalition was ousted from power as the Thackeray faction was reduced to a minority in the state Assembly. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30, while the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as his deputy.

Both, Thackeray and Shinde are now fighting a legal battle to be recognised as the “real” Shiv Sena.