• By Imran Zafar
  • Sun, 29 Dec 2024 08:50 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

The Congress party, currently advocating for a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is facing backlash for its 2012 stance against a memorial for Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray at Mumbai's Shivaji Park. Despite Shiv Sena's insistence, the then Congress-led Maharashtra government, under Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, initially resisted granting state honours or permission for the memorial.

Balasaheb Thackeray, revered as the "Hindu Hriday Samrat" by his supporters, passed away on November 17, 2012. Given his deep ties to Shivaji Park in Dadar, the Shiv Sena demanded that his last rites be performed there with full state honours. 

However, the Congress-led government hesitated, prompting the Shiv Sena to threaten to bring Thackeray's body to Shivaji Park without permission. This forced the government to allow the rites at the park, along with state honours, reported Dainik Jagran.

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Following the cremation, the Thackeray family and Shiv Sena erected a temporary Samadhi at the cremation site, close to the venue of Shiv Sena's historic Dussehra rallies, where Thackeray had delivered speeches for five decades.

Shiv Sena sought to construct a permanent memorial near the Samadhi, but the Congress government refused. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, part of the ruling coalition, suggested building the memorial at Matoshree Club, 12 kilometres from Shivaji Park. 

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Despite ongoing demands, the government neither approved the Shivaji Park site nor offered an alternative. On Balasaheb’s first death anniversary, the administration warned that the temporary Samadhi would be demolished if made permanent, the report stated.

After the BJP came to power in 2014, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resolved the issue. On Thackeray’s second death anniversary, Fadnavis announced the allocation of land near Shivaji Park, at the Mayor's bungalow, for the memorial. The memorial's first phase has been constructed and is expected to be inaugurated on January 23, which marks Balasaheb Thackeray's birth anniversary.