<p>A Shiv Sena leader Tuesday gave a new twist to the demands for a Bal Thackeray memorial at the Shivaji Park in the heart of the city, claiming that the late party chief's cremation site is "as holy as" the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The party's Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said this when asked about the demands from various quarters for a memorial to Thackeray who died Nov 17 and was cremated the next day at Shivaji Park with lakhs attending the state funeral.<br /><br />"It has become a land of faith for the Shiv Sainiks and after Balasaheb's cremation, it is considered as holy as Ram Janmabhoomi," Raut said.<br /><br />In the same vein, he said: "But we do not consider it as a memorial. Whatever structure is there will remain undisturbed."<br /><br />On the issue of the memorial, Raut diplomatically reiterated party executive president Uddhav Thackeray's remark last week that "the ordinary Shiv Sainiks would decide where the memorial shall come up".<br /><br />Reacting sharply to this, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik asked the Shiv Sena "not to capitalise or politicise" Thackeray's death.<br /><br />Thackeray, 86, was cremated before nearly two million mourners.<br /><br />The cremation site at Shivaji Park has become a landmark of sorts with hundreds of people coming to pay homage to Thackeray, offering prayers, flowers, and a band of loyal Shiv Sainiks maintaining a round-the-clock vigil and tending to an "amar jyot" installed there.<br /><br />Shortly after Thackeray's death, senior leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi demanded that a memorial to the Sena supremo should come up at Shivaji Park.<br />Last Sunday, Joshi said the Sena would construct the memorial at Shivaji Park despite opposition. His statement was criticised by the Maharashtra Congress.<br /><br />Even as local groups have opposed the memorial, the state government has not taken any decision on the issue.<br /><br />The Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is prepared to erect an appropriate memorial at the mayor's bungalow, near Shivaji Park, considered by many as a via media<br />.<br />Having historical and cultural significance, the 28-acre Shivaji Park, in Dadar, close the Arabian Sea, is also considered the cradle of Indian cricket which has nurtured some of the top cricketers of the country.<br /><br />In its 87-year-old history, the Shivaji Park has witnessed some of the biggest political rallies, meetings, cultural programmes and other activities, including a victory rally addressed by former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri after the India-Pakistan war of 1965.<br /></p>
<p>A Shiv Sena leader Tuesday gave a new twist to the demands for a Bal Thackeray memorial at the Shivaji Park in the heart of the city, claiming that the late party chief's cremation site is "as holy as" the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The party's Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said this when asked about the demands from various quarters for a memorial to Thackeray who died Nov 17 and was cremated the next day at Shivaji Park with lakhs attending the state funeral.<br /><br />"It has become a land of faith for the Shiv Sainiks and after Balasaheb's cremation, it is considered as holy as Ram Janmabhoomi," Raut said.<br /><br />In the same vein, he said: "But we do not consider it as a memorial. Whatever structure is there will remain undisturbed."<br /><br />On the issue of the memorial, Raut diplomatically reiterated party executive president Uddhav Thackeray's remark last week that "the ordinary Shiv Sainiks would decide where the memorial shall come up".<br /><br />Reacting sharply to this, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik asked the Shiv Sena "not to capitalise or politicise" Thackeray's death.<br /><br />Thackeray, 86, was cremated before nearly two million mourners.<br /><br />The cremation site at Shivaji Park has become a landmark of sorts with hundreds of people coming to pay homage to Thackeray, offering prayers, flowers, and a band of loyal Shiv Sainiks maintaining a round-the-clock vigil and tending to an "amar jyot" installed there.<br /><br />Shortly after Thackeray's death, senior leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi demanded that a memorial to the Sena supremo should come up at Shivaji Park.<br />Last Sunday, Joshi said the Sena would construct the memorial at Shivaji Park despite opposition. His statement was criticised by the Maharashtra Congress.<br /><br />Even as local groups have opposed the memorial, the state government has not taken any decision on the issue.<br /><br />The Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is prepared to erect an appropriate memorial at the mayor's bungalow, near Shivaji Park, considered by many as a via media<br />.<br />Having historical and cultural significance, the 28-acre Shivaji Park, in Dadar, close the Arabian Sea, is also considered the cradle of Indian cricket which has nurtured some of the top cricketers of the country.<br /><br />In its 87-year-old history, the Shivaji Park has witnessed some of the biggest political rallies, meetings, cultural programmes and other activities, including a victory rally addressed by former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri after the India-Pakistan war of 1965.<br /></p>