Aaditya Thackeray alleged the government is trying to "sell the racecourse to commercial interests".
A plan to shift Mumbai's iconic Mahalaxmi Racecourse to an abandoned dump yard in Mulund has opened up a new front between the Eknath Shinde-BJP government and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction. The lease for the race-course ended a decade ago, and reports that the Mumbai civic body has revived its plan to build an amusement park at the site have triggered controversy and anger.
Aaditya Thackeray, a former minister of the state and the son of Uddhav Thackeray, has accused the state government of trying to "sell the racecourse to commercial interests" and "destroy open spaces".
The Uddhav Thackeray government, he said, had planned to build a space like London's Hyde Park in the area that is also a heritage site. "The idea was to create an urban green space open for children, the elderly, runners, Yoga lovers, music lovers, artists, pets and horse lovers too. A free, open urban green park for all," he tweeted yesterday.
A state minister today insisted that no decision has been taken.
Cabinet Minister and Mumbai Guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar conceded that the original plan was to shift the race-course, but asserted, "No such decision has been taken yet".
"There should be open space. Mumbai is short of open spaces. This could be a recreational area for common people. This is one option where open space remains like that and it remains for the common man. But this should not happen at the cost of the game that is racing." Mr Kesarkar told NDTV.
Without naming Aaditya Thackeray, he added, "A few young people are doing politics on this issue ahead of the upcoming BMC (Brihanmumbai Corporation) elections. They are unnecessarily raising this issue as they don't have anything".
The Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Corporation, had leased the racecourse land for 99 years to the Royal Western India Turf Club in 1914. The civic body now owns 2.5 lakh square metre of the 8.5 lakh sq metre space. The state government owns the rest. The area is a heritage site.
The prime, sea-facing land is perceived as the lungs of Mumbai, with part of its open space reserved for jogging, walking and yoga sessions. Critics, however, point out that horse racing is no longer popular and turning the area into a theme park will ensure public access to the space that has been a provenance of the rich and the famous for long.
Aaditya Thackeray, who handled the environment portfolio in the Uddhav Thackeray government, slammed the government in a series of tweets yesterday.
"Now we read that khoke sarkar wants to build a theme park. It's unfortunate that they want to destroy Mumbai's open spaces. Just like they want to sell Worli Dairy to builders, they want to sell racecourse to commercial interests who want to monetise our city," read one of his tweets.
"We Mumbaikars want an urban green park for everyone, not a concrete commercial jungle from Khoke Sarkar's pro builder policies. We also hear that commercial interests are involved in Mulund's proposed racecourse at taxpayer's expense."
"Uddhav Thackeray ji had proposed a park like "The Hyde Park" where everyone would have free, open access to a green open space, without any construction," he said in another tweet yesterday.