Thackeray's pyre at exactly same spot as rally dais
November 18, 2012  19:42
Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray's funeral at the historic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai was the first at a public space in Mumbai since independence.

"As far as I know, this is the first time since independence that a person has been cremated at a public platform in the city," 83-year-old former Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro told PTI.

Before Independence, freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak had been cremated at the famous Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai on August 1, 1920.

Anticipating massive crowds, the Maharashtra government allowed the last rites of 86-year-old Thackeray to be performed at Shivaji Park, where he had addressed his followers on numerous occasions for over four decades.

The pyre was erected at the same place where the stage was set up for Thackeray's Dussehra rallies which he rarely missed.

Thackeray had missed the last such rally of his life on October 24 when he addressed his supporters through a video that gave hints of the firebrand leader's failing health. 
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