Mumbai: The BJP is leaving no stone unturned in winning over the Shiv Sena president, Uddhav Thackeray. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who also heads the Urban Development department (UDD) changed the reservation of the Mayor’s bungalow to a residential zone on Friday. It was previously in green zone and according to a political observer, the decision was taken to pave the way for a proposed ‘Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak’ (national memorial of Thackeray). The state UDD exercised its powers under section 31(1) of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act and deleted the green tag in the Mumbai Development Plan of 2034 to a residential tag, paving way for the construction of this memorial. Fadnavis on January 23, on the occasion of Thackeray’s birth anniversary, had handed over the transfer documents of mayoral bungalow at Shivaji Park, to Uddhav. “Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, BJP is desperate to ally with Sena and does not want to hurt the party and Uddhav,” claimed a political observer. It is now evident that Fadnavis is going out of his way to keep the alliance with Sena intact for the next general and state elections.
“Fadnavis sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the Thackeray memorial and converted the reservation of mayoral bungalow. Now we hear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to attend bhumi poojan of Thackeray memorial to reassure Sena of their sealed alliance,” said the observer. On Wednesday, Ajoy Mehta, BMCl commissioner, handed over the old mayor’s bungalow to Uddhav, who is the chairman of Balasaheb Thackeray Smarak Samiti Nyas, a trust that will run the administration of the memorial.
