He laid the foundation stone of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in July 1999. But on Tuesday, he got his first chance to go for a ride on it. For quite some time, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had not stepped out of his house — Matoshree in Bandra (East) — save for the occasions he had to be taken to Lilavati Hospital for treatment. So, when he came out to vote on Tuesday, he did not let go of the opportunity to take a joyride on the sea link.
Clad in his trademark saffron clothes, Thackeray left home around 10:30 am for Navjivan School near MIG Club in Bandra (East) to cast his vote. Along with him were son Uddhav, daughter-in-law Rashmi and son-in-law Aditya. He sat on the front seat of the car that took him to the school. His assistants, Ravindra Mhatre and Thapa, who travelled in another car, helped him climb the few steps to reach the polling booth.
The on-duty election commission staff stood up when Thackeray entered the booth. Casting his vote, he posed for the photographs. Coming out, he told Uddhav he wanted to visit the sea link. His son happily agreed to his demand.
Before heading for the sea link, Thackeray spoke to the media. He said he was confident about the Sena-BJP alliance coming to power in the state. “Maharashtra will see the exit of the Congress-NCP government and the ushering in of the Sena-BJP alliance,” he said.
“Saheb (Thackeray) looked happy after visiting the sea link,” one of his aides told
DNA later in the day. “His car travelled toand from Worli.” The officials of MSRDC,
who too were happy about Thackeray’s firstvisit to the engineering marvel, did not charge him the toll.
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