BJP MLA demands Lata Mangeshkar’s memorial at Shivaji Park in Mumbai

A day after singing legend Lata Mangeshkar was cremated at the iconic Shivaji Park in Mumbai, BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Monday demanded her memorial at the site. The demand assumes significance as the park is also the site where Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray was cremated in 2012. His memorial was built at the site despite opposition from civic groups.

Mangeshkar (92) died in a hospital here on Sunday morning after multi-organ failure. She was cremated at the Shivaji Park in the evening with full state honours.

Kadam, who is an MLA from Mumbai, in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “On behalf of Mangeshkar’s crores of admirers and music lovers, I humbly request you to build a memorial at the same place at Shivaji Park where she was cosigned to flames.”

Asked about the demand, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose party heads the coalition government in Maharashtra and also controls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, told reporters that the country has to think about a memorial of a great personality like Lata Mangeshkar.

“Mangeshkar ji was a great soul and it is our fortune she was born in this country and was closely associated with Maharashtra. Some people demand that her memorial be built at the same site (where she was cremated). It is not easy to build her memorial,” Raut said.

“She was no political leader to build a memorial. It is not easy to build her memorial…she was such a big personality. The country has to think about (building) her memorial,” the Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson said.

Raut claimed Mangeshkar called him last month while he was talking to reporters about former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and that she had appreciated the Sena leader’s thoughts on Vajpayee.