Maharashtra CM Fadnavis grants Rs100 cr for Thackeray Memorial, will attend Shiv Sena event

The state cabinet on Tuesday decided to execute the project at Shivaji Park in Dadar through the Fadnavis-headed Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Amid the uncertainty over the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in an attempt to pacify its bickering ally, sanctioned ₹100 crore for construction of the Bal Thackeray memorial.

The makeshift memorial of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray being readied on Tuesday, January 22, 2019,, the eve of his birth anniversary, at Shivaji Park, Dadar. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

The state cabinet on Tuesday decided to execute the project at Shivaji Park in Dadar through the Fadnavis-headed Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Subhash Desai, state industries minister and general secretary of the Bal Thackeray Memorial Public Trust, said the trust will monitor the project. “The trust has finalised the designs. It will be an underground memorial, which will be built without disturbing the structure above. The MMRDA will invite tenders for the construction soon,” he said.

The state in December waived stamp duty of Rs14.41 crore and registration fees of ₹30,000 for the lease agreement to transfer the mayor bungalow plot to the trust. The decision to give the project to MMRDA has raised eyebrows, considering the project has a government-appointed trust and it could have been given to the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as the plot is owned by the civic body.

Sena leader and environment minister Ramdas Kadam said, “The trust will monitor the project and handle the administration. Being a trust, funds cannot be allotted to it, and a trust cannot invite tenders [for construction].”

Fadnavis and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray attend a function on Wednesday, as the trust takes formal possession of the plot. Desai said, “The CM will attend the function. It is a ceremonial puja and ceremony to hand over of the plot to the trust.”

Thackeray is a lifetime member of the public trust. According to Desai, a full-fledged bhoomipujan will be done after the tenders are invited.

On Tuesday, Thackeray indicated his party’s resolve to go solo when a few party MPs met the leader at his residence in Mumbai. According to a Sena MP, Thackeray said those who are scared of contesting alone should leave the party.

The MMRDA is also executing the Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial.