India, Oct. 3 -- Lashing out at his bete noire Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena head Eknath Shinde on Thursday declared that Mumbai would "go back by 25 years" if the Mahayuti was not elected in the coming civic polls. Speaking at the Sena's Dusshera rally at the NESCO grounds at Goregaon, the deputy CM said, "We have to take Mumbai ahead. All of us must sink our differences and work."

Shinde was to hold his rally at Azad Maidan, but the heavy rains played spoilsport and he had to shift it to the smaller NESCO grounds. However, he claimed that he had himself curtailed the size of the rally, as his workers were out providing relief to the flood-hit.

Shinde's speech was replete with digs at Thackeray. Calling him "a conspirator and not a party...