Mayor’s bungalow to make way for Thackeray memorial

Tribune News Service

Advertisement

Mumbai, November 17

The sea-facing mayor’s bungalow near Shivaji Park in central Mumbai will become a memorial to late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here today.

Addressing a press conference jointly with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said both parties had been allies for more than 25 years and would remain so in the future as well.

“Balasaheb was the man responsible for bringing about the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance. He is a guiding light for all of us... A memorial befitting his status will come up at the mayor’s bungalow and the entire cost for its construction will be borne by the government,” Fadnavis said.

The two leaders, whose parties jointly rule the state, came together on stage for the first time in several months after trading barbs till recently.

Fadnavis said the decision to construct a memorial for Thackeray was taken by an empowered committee headed by the Chief Secretary. “The committee suggested eight places and the final location was decided in consultation with Uddhav Thackeray,” Fadnavis said. He said the mayor’s bungalow, a heritage site, will not be pulled down. “The mayor will be shifted to another bungalow which is more beautiful than this,” he said.

Uddhav said anyone visiting the memorial will get every detail of the late Bal Thackeray. “Balasaheb’s memorial will be built in a way that everything about him will be known to a person who visits it,” he said.