Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a grant of Rs 1 crore for the construction of a memorial dedicated to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. The ground-breaking ceremony for the Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial will be performed today on his 93rd birth anniversary, near Shivaji Park in Mumbai's Dadar.
The funds will be provided by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The land will also be transferred by the city civic body to the trust set up to construct the structure at an event today.
The Sena expressed happiness over it, but maintained that the government's decision had got nothing to do with alliance prospects between the two parties for the upcoming polls.
After the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said relations between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena "were and will remain sweet".
There are "high chances" of a tie-up between both the parties because the BJP has always been in favour of an alliance, Mungantiwar said.
The Sena, an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, has been often critical of the two governments. Last year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had announced to go solo in future elections.
