Eknath Shinde won the support of Uddhav Thackeray's brother Jaidev Thackeray.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's claim over being leader of the real Shiv Sena suffered yet another blow on Wednesday when his brother Jaidev Thackeray said "his full support" was with rival Eknath Shinde.
"For the last 5-6 days, I have been asked whether you are in Shinde faction. Thackerays can't be in any faction. I like the steps taken by Shinde's side and out of love, I have come here," he said, speaking at the Dussehra event organised by Team Shinde.
"Don't let Eknath be alone. You all should support him. Shinde is working for poor and for farmers. Shinde is similar to our farmers; he is very hardworking," Jaidev Thackeray said.
"I will say, let Shinde Rajya come back. Let there be elections and let Shinde Rajya come back. My full support is with Eknath Shinde," he added.
Since orchestrating the coup that usurped Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister in June and eventually replacing him with the support of most MLAs of the Shiv Sena, Mr Shinde has ramped up his claim on the legacy of the party's founder Bal Thackeray.
For Dussehra, the two factions, eyeball-to-eyeball since the split, organised what was billed as a show of strength: two separate rallies in Mumbai, a first since the Shiv Sena's inception 56 years ago.
While the Uddhav Thackeray faction won the legal battle to hold its rally at the historic Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai, a venue associated with the Shiv Sena since it was founded, the rebel group led by Mr Shinde organised their event at the MMRDA ground at BKC in the suburbs.
Both the camps have claimed they are taking forward the ideals of Bal Thackeray, who was known to make fiery speeches at the Dussehra rallies at Shivaji Park year after year till his death in 2012.