The act of “good faith” on the part of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to allow the cremation of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray could now have dire effects for the non-controversial minister.
According to sources, aspirants for the post of chief minister have already started lobbying in Delhi against Mr Chavan, making him now regret the decision. Meanwhile, a delegation of Shiv Sena leaders met Mr Chavan on Tuesday night at Nagpur and placed their demands before him. The CM is said to have turned down those demands.
According to sources, the Sena delegation, led by MLA Subhash Desai, told Mr Chavan that they were ready to vacate Shivaji Park as promised, if the government acceded to their demands. The delegation laid down three options before the CM and wanted at least one of them to be fulfilled if they were to vacate Shivaji Park. The first option was to have the upcoming Navi Mumbai International be named after Bal Thackeray; the second to have a site near the Mumbai mayor’s bungalow allotted for the memorial; and third to have a stamp issued in Thackeray’s name. Sources said that Mr Chavan told the Sena delegation that the state would look in to the options only after the makeshift memorial was dismantled and Shivaji Park vacated.
Senior Congress leaders said that the decision taken in “good faith” by Mr Chavan has backfired and he is regretting it. In fact, certain individuals from the Congress have started lobbying in Delhi to highlight Mr Chavan’s mistake and inefficiency in getting the Sena to vacate Shivaji Park.
The Sena has been bringing in cadres from Mumbai and Thane to Shivaji Park to guard the memorial and they are working in 12-hour shifts.