Thackeray's cremation site 'as holy as Ram Mandir'

Comparing Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s cremation site to the Ram Chabutra at the disputed Ram Janambhoomi site at Ayodhya, Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said: “The spot is as holy as the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and, thus, SS will not shelve its demand for constructing Thackeray's memorial at Shivaji Park.”

“For us the spot where Balasaheb’s last rites were conducted is as holy as the Ram Mandir. We don’t want to call it a memorial but then it is a place for paying obeisance and it is the party workers who will decide whether they want a memorial. We appeal to the government and to the courts not to interfere in what is an emotional matter for us," Raut said.

Raut also said that the party will resist any attempt by the government to vacate the cremation site where SS has erected a pandal under which the party workers have placed Thackeray's photograph.