Remove makeshift Thackeray memorial: BMC to Sena

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has served notices to Mumbai Mayor Sunil Prabhu and Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, asking them to remove the makeshift memorial of Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray from Shivaji Park in Dadar.

The notices were served to the duo on Monday night, civic officials said on Tuesday.

"The purpose for which the site was allotted (for Thackeray's cremation) is over. Therefore, we have asked both Prabhu and Raut to remove the structure immediately or face legal consequences," said Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte.

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The 86-year-old Sena chief was cremated on November 18 at Shivaji Park, the same ground where he had addressed his followers during Dusshera rallies for over 40 years.

Last week, Sena had equated the edifice where Balasaheb's last rites were conducted at Shivaji Park, to the temple site at Ayodhya.

"The sanctity of the place should be maintained. It is like a temple for us and we won't remove the structure that has come up at the cremation site," Raut had told reporters.

He had also asked the government and court not to intervene in the issue.

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Senior party leader Manohar Joshi first made the demand for the memorial of Bal Thackeray at the site, soon after he was cremated on November 18.

Thackeray died on November 17 at his residence in Mumbai.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the state government would not do anything in violation of the law, as Shivaji Park has been declared a silence zone.

Sena had demanded a memorial at the spot to honour Thackeray.

While the government is of the view that it is a recreation ground, the court says it is a playground and no construction will be possible on it, Chavan had said.

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