Won’t immerse idol till CM visits pandal, said Thane group. Shinde sends his son

Tanaje Kolekar said the chief minister dialled him after hearing of their move to put the idol immersion on hold and sent his son Shrikant Shinde on his behalf this year

THANE: Devouts at a small pandal in Thane’s Kalwa hadn’t immersed the idol of Goddess Durga like everyone else because the organisers said, they are waiting for Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde to visit the pandal.

Thane’s Navdurga Charitable Trust finally immersed the idol of Goddess Durga after a phone call from chief minister Eknath Shinde and a visit by his son and MP Shrikant Shinde at the pandal. (HT Photo/Praful Gangurde)

Tanaje Kolekar, president of the pandal and also shakha chief of Kalwa said they were waiting for chief minister Eknath Shinde since he had promised to visit their pandal on the first day of Navratri. “Based on this assurance we have decided to wait for him and not to immerse the idol unless he comes to seek the blessing of our goddess,” Kolekar said on Thursday.

He added that he too was a Shakha Pramukh and Shinde had already visited pandals of many other Sena workers during the ten-day festival.

The organisers, Navdurga Charitable Trust, said they started Navratri celebrations in Surya Nagar in Vitawa in 2008.

“We know that he is the chief minister of the state and has many commitments so we will wait patiently for him to visit when he has time, till then we will not immerse the idol,” he said early on Thursday.

But as news of the delayed immersion reached the chief minister, the organisers said Shinde phoned Kolekar to say that his son and MP Shrikant Shinde will visit the pandal on his behalf.

On Thursday evening, Shrikant Shinde and former mayor Naresh Mhaske turned up at the pandal on behalf of the chief minister, leading the organisers to begin the ceremonies for the immersion.

Kolekar said the chief minister spoke to him late on Thursday afternoon when he heard we were waiting for him. “He assured me that he will visit the pandal the next time. This time, his son Shrikant will come instead of him. I am happy that the CM took heed of our wish. Shrikant did come in the evening and we have decided to immerse the idol.”

Kolekar added that the chief minister underlined that he hadn’t received the invitation that was sent to him “He told me that our invite never reached him and thus he did not plan the visit.”

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had opposed the decision to wait for the chief minister.

MNS Thane district president Avinash Jadhav said it was “an insult to Hindu tradition” to wait for Shinde. “The chief minister is not bigger than God. In his comments earlier, Jadhav threatened that they would immerse the idol if the organisers do not.”And if the CM has so much time to visit a pandal in Kalwa, he can as well inaugurate the Third Kalwa Creek bridge which is awaiting inauguration.”