Similarly, at Mulund east, Shinde inaugurated 2 shakhas (Shakha No. 105 and 106) near a municipal school but already the shakha pramukh for shakha number 106 has quit over internal differences.

When Bal Thackeray started the Shiv Sena in 1966, it began as a movement rather than a political party, and its credo was direct action. It was usually at the shakhas which formed the primary organisational unit of the party where this action would be given shape.

The shakha was where the sainik flexed his muscles, shaped the public discourse of the Marathi manoos, and subsumed his anxieties with community work. But since last year’s split in the party, the shakhas have also become the stage where the internal dissonance of the party is now on full display.

“Though we opened the shakha last year, many people still do not have information about us. We need to campaign to spread awareness and need more activities to reach out to people,” says Amol Pradhan of the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. Pradhan is the office in charge of both the shakhas at Mulund east.

When HT visited that shakha, we found applicants for free sewing machines that were being distributed by the Shinde camp and for free bus passes to Konkan ahead of the Ganpati festival.

“My uncle who lives in Virar couldn’t get a ticket to go to our hometown in Konkan for the Ganesh festival. I came to know from a Whatsapp forward that they were organising a free bus to Konkan for the festival, so I came to apply for that,” says Pranjal Barje who is a student. Similarly, the free sewing machines and hand-held atta chakkis are a big hit with the women, says Pradhan.

At the two Shiv Sena shakhas run by the Uddhav Thackeray faction barely a few hundred meters away from Shinde’s, there is an even bigger crowd. Some people want help with fumigation in their area while others want financial help to start Govinda groups ahead of Gokulashthami. Sanjay Jadhav, the shakha pramukh of 105, says he has just finished distributing 450 ration kits to mark the birthday of party president Uddhav Thackeray. Next, they are planning to organise Mangalagaur for the women and the big discussion the day HT visited the shakha was the refreshments’ menu comprising Pav Bhaji and Gulab Jamun. “We are doing all this on our own without any financial assistance from the party unlike the Shinde camp which assists shakhas with generous funds,” says Nitin Chaure, deputy vibhag pramukh for Sena (UBT).

Money, or the lack of it, is clearly a problem for the Uddhav camp. “We also provided bus services during festivals but with 50 % concession, not free,” says Nitin Chaure, Uddhav camp’s vibhag pramukh.

But despite the competitive populism at which Shinde seems to be far ahead of Thackeray, on ground there is a clear sense of drift in the shakhas operated by his sainiks. Like Jogeshwari and Mulund, he started two shkahas at Bhandup too – shakha number 114 and 115 from a small office in Gadhav Naka area. The office was shut at 9.15 pm when HT visited. That’s usually the time when people return from work and congregate at the shakhas post-dinner. “The Bhandup MLA Ramesh Korgaonkar is still with the Uddhav camp and he manages to pull people to his shakhas,” says local rickshaw driver Ajay Pofale with an all-knowing air.

Similarly, Kamraj Nagar in Ghatkopar East is a sprawling slum. Between this slum and the adjacent one at Ramabai Nagar, there are over 2 lakh voters. The local corporator Parmeshwar Kadam, who first represented MNS then shifted to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has set up a jansampark office at the entrance of Kamraj Nagar and also shakha no 133. However, when HT visited on Monday evening, the shakha was shuttered. A shopkeeper in the vicinity said Kadam preferred to operate from his own office rather than the shakha. The two staff members at the shakha said they were merely paid employees who had little idea about the Sena’s ideology and work.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) shakha is located in an SRA building along the highway very close to Kadam’s shakha. It too is shut. Like the Barista and Café Coffee Day rivalry of the late ’90s, the Sena vs Sena battle has been good for realtors. Wherever there is one Sena’s shakha, the other is bound to set up shop. Sharad Kolthere, Uddhav’s shakha pramukh said, he had stepped out for a meeting as there was no power in the building.

In Sena’s traditional bastion of Parel, Shiv Sena (UBT) shakha no 203 is packed on a Tuesday afternoon. One of the sainiks present there, Amol Pathare, says, “I have been a Shiv Sainik since 1966 and come from 11 am to 2 pm and then again from 7 pm to 10.30 pm. I am an SEO, and help people who come here to get photocopies attested.’’

Some of the visitors came seeking help in getting blood for their relatives in hospital while another person has come for help with hospital admission. “Not a single person from this area has gone to Shinde group,” says deputy shakha pramukh Shantaram Chavan with evident pride. Another worker chimes in: “This is an important shakha for us but gradually the area’s Marathi population is on the decline. Mostly people come to us for works like building repairs, cleanliness of gutters and other civic work. We approach our local MLA Ajay Choudhari and get the work done.”

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena does not have a shakha in Parel, but it has an office in Sewri instead. Deepti Kamerkar, Shinde’s deputy shakha pramukh points out that the free sewing machine scheme and atta chakkis have been a big hit with women. One of the women at the shakha said she did not seek freebies, instead she wanted a job for her son.

In south Mumbai there is an overall decline in the footfall at the shakhas on account of the demographic shift which now favours Jains and Marwaris but even here people prefer to go to the old shakhas. At Sena UBT ’s Thakurdwar shakha no. 222 in Girgaon with an association going back to the days of Bal Thackeray associate Pramod Nawalkar, two local residents, Francis Fernandes and Sarita Agarwal have come with the application for Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana while another resident Vijeta Bobade has come seeking help with the police. “One of my friends cheated me with a loan, I filed a complaint with the police but they are not cooperating. I have come here knowing that they will help,” she says. At the Shinde faction’s spanking new shakha close by there’s just an office boy scrolling on his phone.

However, this situation changes wherever the local MLA has shifted allegiance to Shinde. In Thackeray’s own backyard at the government colony at Bandra east, the Shinde group is offering a raft of schemes that finds takers. “From this year on the CM and the BJP have taken control of all BMC schemes and we did not get a single sewing machine to distribute,” laments Nazir Sheikh, a party worker from the Thackeray faction from Shakha number 93 near the collector’s office

Shakha pramukh Deepak Salvi says, “For some months the ruling alliance has successfully pressurised BMC officers into not doing any work suggested by us. They refused all help in resolving problems like poor water supply and cleaning of gutters. It was only after MLC Anil Parab organised agitations and explained them in old ‘Shiv Sena style’ that BMC officers began cooperating. But as far as joint government-BMC schemes are concerned like distribution of free sewing machines and atta chakkis, they are one up on us,” says Deepak Salvi.

Local resident Swapnali Ghag is at the shakha for help getting her Aadhaar Card updated. “We have been coming to this shakha for years for any issue. I don’t even know where the shakha of CM Shinde group is.” Another resident, Rushikesh Sawant who works as driver drops by for a courtesy visit. “My sister got admission to Kirti college just because of this shakha and Deepak Salvi. Even though the shakha run by the Shinde camp is close to my house, we came here as we still have faith in this party”.

Rahul Metari, a former MNS leader is now Shinde’s man in Bandra east. He says, “We are reaching out to people through WhatsApp groups to extend the benefits of free bus service for Ganesh festival, sewing machines and formation of women’s self-help groups,” he says.

At Kalina, local MLA Mangesh Kudalkar is Shinde Sena’s vibhag pramukh and they set up a shakha there only two months ago. He emphasises that all new recruits working in the shkhas have to be trained first. “How they should work and deal with people and also BMC officials,” he says.

“For Shiv Sainiks and for people in Mumbai, a shakha is not just a local party office, but it’s also a place of emotional connection. Most shakhas have been helping serve people for decades,” says Sena UBT leader Anil Parab. “I and my colleagues built the Badra east shakha raising money through contribution. This is the case with most shakhas across Mumbai, and that is the reason senior party workers and those who trained under them have an emotional connection with shakhas. Those shakhas being set up by Shinde-led party are just a new office, they lack the emotional attachment and the very essence of the word shakha,”says Parab.

But perhaps no one understands that better than Shinde himself and which is why he has entrusted the task of creating a network of shakhas across Mumbai to his son and MP Shrikant Shinde.

They have started aggressively poaching shakha pramukhs from the Thackeray faction as that gives them a readymade workforce of experienced office bearers across Mumbai. The recent induction of Subhash Sawant who was the assembly organiser in Vile-Parle area is one such instance.