Five Shiv Sena activists were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya and other party workers at a Dussera event in Mumbai's Mulund area on Tuesday evening. The incident took place after Shiv Sena workers objected to the burning of an effigy of a "corruption mafia in the MCGM [Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai]" during the function. Many people were injured in the clashes that broke out between workers of the two parties.

According to The Times of India, Shiv Sena activists arrived at the event in two buses and assaulted BJP workers with bamboo sticks after storming the ground. "Somaiyyaji was on the ground and refused to leave until those responsible for the assaults were brought to book," the MP's personal assistant Shiv Kumari said. The parliamentarian, however, escaped unhurt. The police had to intervene to bring the situation under control.

The police said Kiran Nande, Nilesh Sawant, Nilesh Thakkar, Sunil Gore and Kishore Bhoir were arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, intentionally insulting with the intent to provoke breach of peace and criminal intimidation.

The rift between the BJP and Shiv Sena widened after Somaiya said that his party was considering going solo for the civic elections in Mumbai scheduled for early 2017. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday dared the BJP to break the alliance. "If you [BJP] want to break the alliance, do it today. We'll then show you our surgical strike," he said. Currently, the MCGM is governed by the Sena-BJP alliance.