This Article is From Dec 14, 2012

Shiv Sena relents, agrees to shift Bal Thackeray's memorial

Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Friday said it may shift the temporary memorial to party chief Bal Thackeray, built at the spot where he was cremated last month, on December 17.

"We may shift the makeshift structure at Shivaji Park, where Balasaheb was cremated last month, on December 17," Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut told PTI.

He rubbished news reports that the Sena is gearing up to shift the structure on Friday night itself.

Raut said the Sena has replied to the December 4 notice of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over relocation of the structure, which has become a bone of contention between the saffron outfit and the Congress-NCP Government in the state.

The Sena MP did not give details of the reply submitted to the civic body.

Shiv Sainiks consider the temporary structure as "sacred" and they had been regularly visiting the site and paying obeisance to the departed leader.

The BMC had served notices to Mayor Sunil Prabhu and Raut, asking them to immediately remove the memorial from Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai.

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

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