Fearing police action and loss of sympathy from its supporters, the opposition Shiv Sena on Thursday went on the backfoot on the issue of removal of the makeshift memorial of party chief, late Bal Thackeray, from the sprawling Shivaji Park. The party has relented and decided to shift the memorial from the present site. The work on the removal of the makeshift memorial is expected to begin soon, announced Sena's group leader in the state assembly Subhash Desai. At the same time, party MP Sanjay Raut announced that the party has begun search for a new location for Thackeray's memorial in the city. Raut thereby has declared that the Shiv Sena was no more keen to press its demand for the construction of an imposing memorial of Thackeray at the Shivaji Park.
However, party insiders have indicated that the Sena would consider the complete removal of memorial in the near future as the government was not in a mood to reach any compromise on this issue.
The Sena's turnaround comes in the wake of a meeting between the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and the party leader Subhash Desai, Mumbai mayor Sunil Prabhu, standing committee chief Rahul Shevale and party executive president Uddhav Thackeray's executive assistant Milind Narvekar held on Tuesday night. Sena had suggested three options consisting of release of a stamp in the memory of Thackeray, naming the Navi Mumbai international airport after the late leader and providing land currently occupied by a club adjacent to Shivaji Park ground for the proposed memorial. However, the government was quite categorical in its stand that the present makeshift memorial needed to be removed.
Shiv Sena's stand was clarified by Uddhav Thackeray in today's mouthpiece Saamna where the party has suggested that its own workers could dismantle the plinth where Thackeray was cremated, and move it to a new location just a few feet away. "The stance of the Shiv Sena on the 'samadhi sthal' (memorial) has always been that of restraint," Thackeray's son Uddhav said.
The Chief Minister had said "Shivaji Park was given for Bal Thackeray's cremation on the grounds that it would be returned in the same condition. We want the Shiv Sena to abide by the conditions and follow the law."
The civic authorities are handing over Shivaji Park to the Armed forces today for rehearsals for Vijay Divas, celebrated on December 16 to mark India's victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan. However when Major General Rajesh Bawa, General Officer Commanding, Mumbai Sub Area, Mumbai, was asked about the unavailability of the entire park for the celebrations, he said, "We are happy with what we have. We have to live with what is available until the political problem is solved."
It must be mentioned here that the Sena-BJP ruled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation had issued notice on December 4 to mayor Sunil Prabhu and party MP Sanjay Raut for the immediate removal of make shift removal. However, despite repeated reminders by BMC to Shiv Sena the civic body put the ball in the state government's court.
