The decision to set up late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s memorial at the mayor’s bungalow in Dadar has evoked a sharp response from opposition parties in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (B
The decision to set up late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s memorial at the mayor’s bungalow in Dadar has evoked a sharp response from opposition parties in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The residence has heritage and historical significance and should not be used for setting up the memorial, they said.
Raising the issue in the BMC house, leader of opposition and Congress corporator Devendra Amberkar said, “The Mumbai mayor’s post and her residence has got special importance and prestige. Just because no one will oppose taking over the mayor’s bungalow for Thackeray’s memorial does not mean that this heritage structure should be used for this purpose. Even Balasaheb Thackeray would not have liked this.”
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Sandeep Deshpande said that by agreeing to the mayor’s bungalow for Balasaheb’s memorial, Shiv Sena has walked into the trap of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The mayor’s bungalow is a designated place for the first citizen of the city. How can it be given for memorial Will the chief minister or the municipal commissioner allot their residences for constructing a memorial ” he asked.
The mayor’s bungalow belongs to the BMC and the chief minister has no right to allot it for the Thackeray memorial, said senior Congress corporator Pravin Chheda.
However, Sena corporator and standing committee chairman Shailesh Phanase defended the move, saying the memorial would be a fitting tribute to Thackeray, who contributed immensely to the city. “Even the NCP chief Sharad Pawar had endorsed the decision to allot the mayor’s bungalow for setting up the memorial,” he said. BJP group leader Manoj Kotak said the decision has been taken by the eight-member memorial committee, which had been appointed for suggesting a place for it.
