A day after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan asked the BMC to draft an action plan to remove the makeshift memorial of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray from Shivaji Park, municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte on Monday night served an ultimatum on mayor Sunil Prabhu and Rajya Sabha MP Sanj ay Raut to remove the temporary structure within 24 hours or face the consequences.
The decision was taken after a petition seeking demolition of the structure was submitted to the Bombay High Court by a little known organisation, Bahujan Lead Union of Educated.
The temporary structure was erected on November 18 at the park to perform the last rites of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
The park, which is also the birthplace of Sena, was made the final resting place for the party’s patriarch in a first of its kind public cremation carried out in Mumbai post-Independence.
Indeed , Sanjay Raut on Monday said that the Sena would not give up the samadhi space at Shivaji Park under any circumstances . Stating that the small edifice where Bal Thackeray’s funeral pyre was lit on November 18 was as sacred to Shiv Sainiks as Lord Rama’s temple in Ayodhya , Raut said , “We will select a new venue for the Balasaheb’s memorial . However , the government should not touch the samadhi space at Shivaji Park .”