Mayor's Bungalow a grand memorial for Bal Thackeray

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced a plan to set up a grand memorial for Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray at the Mayor’s Bungalow off the Shivaji Park in Mumbai.

For the purpose, a trust headed by Uddhav would be formed to work out the modalities. “The broad framework of the memorial has been decided. The intricacies will now be worked out. The names of other members of this trust will be announced in 2 to 3 days,” Fadnavis said.

“Balasaheb’s memorial will be built in a way that everything about him will be known to a person who visits it. Anyone from any part of the world will get every detail of Balasaheb at the memorial,” Uddhav said. However, hours after the development, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, cousin of Uddhav and nephew of late Thackeray, opposed the move saying that despite the Shiv Sena and the BJP ruling the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra and at the Centre, they could not secure a plot for the memorial.

The Mayor’s Bungalow, a heritage site is  located off the Shivaji Park and touches the Arabian Sea on the other side. There are several memorials next to it — Chaityabhoomi, where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of Constitution, was laid to rest, Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtrya Smarak, a memorial of  Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Besides, the Indu Mills, a grand memorial of Dr Ambedkar is also coming up.

“Several locations were considered and all were good for the memorial. But Shivaji Park is the Sena’s ‘karma bhoomi’ and we accept the Mayor’s Bungalow here for the Thackeray memorial,” Uddhav said.

“The Mayor’s Bungalow is a heritage site. It cannot be pulled down. But, the memorial will come up at this place and the Mayor will be shifted to another designated bungalow.

That bungalow is more beautiful than this,” the Chief Minister said. Meanwhile, Raj said that he would soon meet Fadnavis and raise the issue. “The Mayor’s Bungalow is for the Mayor...today you have taken it, tomorrow you would ask for the CM’s residence,” he said.