RPI supports Shiv Sena on Shivaji Park renaming issue

Shiv Sena's alliance partner, the Republican Party on Wednesday extended its support to the saffron party on renaming Shivaji Park as 'Shiv Tirth'.

"Whatever demands are made by the Shiv Sena, we support it. The Republican Party of India will support the Sena," RPI president Ramdas Athawale told reporters in Thane and added that the demand to rename the park as 'Shiv Tirth' should be accepted.

Athawale also said that the make-shift memorial at Shivaji Park, where late Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray was cremated, should not be removed.

"Emotions of the people should be understood," he said, adding, political parties should desist from doing politics on the issue.

"Leaders from various political parties should come together and support the memorial for Balasheb Thackeray," he added. The Dalit leader also stated that the mayor's  bungalow in Dadar in central Mumbai is the 'appropriate' location for the memorial to be constructed for the Sena patriarch, who died on November 17.

Meanwhile, Sena's old alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has refrained from making its stand clear on the renaming as well as on the memorial issue.