Maha CM pays floral tributes to Balasaheb Thackeray

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray on his 93rd birth anniversary at Mayor's Bungalow here.

On this occasion, Mr Fadnavis and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray performed Ganesh Pujan for Balasaheb Thackeray National memorial at Mayor's Bungalow.

BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta handed over the possession letter of Mayor's bungalow to Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial Committee in presence of Mr Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray. 

On Tuesday,  the state Cabinet  had sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the memorial of late Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray. The memorial will be funded by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and constructed in the Shivaji Park area. This will help to abridge the gap between Sena and BJP.

The Cabinet decided to execute the project at Shivaji Park in Dadar through the Fadnavis-headed Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Subhash Desai, state industries minister and general secretary of the Bal Thackeray Memorial Public Trust, said the trust will monitor the project. 

The trust has finalised the designs. It will be an underground memorial, which will be built without disturbing the structure above. The MMRDA will invite tenders for the construction soon, he said.

In a gesture, the state government in December waived stamp duty of Rs 14.41 crore and registration fees of Rs 30,000 for the lease agreement to transfer the mayor's bungalow plot to the trust. 

The decision to give the project to MMRDA has raised eyebrows, considering that the project has a government-appointed trust and it could have been given to the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as the plot is owned by the civic body.(UNI)