Narayan Rane, Shiv Sena at loggerheads over Bal Thackeray memorial
Shiv Sena and Union minister for micro, small and medium enterprises Narayan Rane are likely to clash again. Maharashtra’s ruling party has threatened that they will now allow the senior BJP leader to visit the Balasaheb Thackeray Memorial at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Thursday.
Mr Rane has decided to kickstart his Jan Ashirwad Yatra on August 19 by offering a floral tribute at the Thackeray memorial. He will also visit the memorials of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, V.D. Savarkar and B.R. Ambedkar.
However, his decision to visit the Thackeray memorial has evoked a sharp response from the Shiv Sena. “A traitor like Narayan Rane has no moral right to visit the memorial of Balasaheb. No other leader in Maharashtra has betrayed Balasheb like him. Shiv Sainiks will not allow such a housebreaker to visit Thackeray memorial,” said Sena MP Vinayak Raut.
Mr Rane, a former Sena man, was expelled by the then party president and
present Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in 2005. Since then he has always been at loggerheads with the Sena.
Senior BJP leader Pravin Darekar has asked the Sena not to be “narrow minded” over the visit. “Balasaheb Thackeray belongs to the entire country. It was he who shaped the political career of Narayan Rane. We will definitely visit the memorial to offer our tribute peacefully. Stopping us from it will be like exposing your narrow minded approach,” he said.
Mr Rane’s Jan Ashirwad Yatra will cover Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri districts in the coastal Konkan region, as well as Mumbai and Vasai-Virar region. His tour is seen as BJP’s attempts to counter Sena in the important municipal elections to be held early next year at major cities in the state.