The NCP seems to have backtracked from its stance about the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s statue at Shivaji Park. It has now said that it will stand by whatever decision the state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will take, despite fact that the CM might be under pressure when taking the final call.
NCP’s MoS for urban development department Bhaskar Jadhav had earlier declared that the state government would clear any proposal for the Sena pramukh’s monument at Shivaji Park. However, it would now appear that the NCP does not approve of its minister’s statement, as he was not the authority to speak on the issue.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Thursday said that the decision about the monument would be taken by the BMC and since the BMC is presently ruled by the Sena-BJP, they would take the call. Mr Malik further added that it was during the Sena-BJP tenure that the rules with respect to statues were finalised. In case of any issue, it passes into the domain of the state government’s UDD, and the CM as the head of the department would then take the decision.
The spokesperson further added that the NCP would stand by whatever decision the CM took in this regard as it is happy that he stated the Congress-NCP will contest 2014 elections together. “Since the CM has recently stated that Congress-NCP will contest the elections together in 2014, there is no controversy about the relations between the two parties. The CM is sensitive, let him take the decision, whether he will follow Raj dharma (admini
stration) or Maitri dharma (friendship) will be seen,” said Mr Malik.