The crisis in the ruling Shiv Sena on Tuesday after senior leader Eknath Shinde went "incommunicado" with a sizable number of MLAs led to Mumbai police deploying a large number of personnel at the party's headquarters in Dadar area.
Hundreds of party workers started assembling at Shiv Sena Bhavan as news of Shinde's rebellion broke in the morning, with the numbers swelling by the hour, most of them irate over the challenge thrown at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
"This protest will continue against whoever betrays the Shiv Sena. Our leader Uddhav Thackeray will overcome all these problems and emerge victorious," one woman at the site said.
"When (party founder) Balasaheb (Thackeray) was alive, he used to say look after Uddhav the way you all have supported me. This is what we are doing. We are all here to support Uddhav Thackeray," another party worker said.
As emotions among the workers of the cadre-based party ran high, a heavy posse of police, including women personnel, was at hand to ensure the situation did not go out of hand, officials said.
