Avinash Bhosale, the controversial builder from Pune, might renovate Bal Thackeray’s farmhouse in Bhilawale near Karjat. The farmhouse is special for Thackeray because his wife Meenatai breathed her last in the house on September 6, 1996.
Bhosale was in news in 2007 when the customs department arrested him at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Sahar for evading duty on goods. He was returning from the US.
Soon after his arrest, stories of his closeness with political bigwigs came to the fore. Also, it was widely reported that Bhosale had properties worth several crores. Thackeray had defended him saying, “There is nothing wrong if a Maharashtrian earns a lot of money.”
Bhosale, however, said that nothing had been finalised. “We are working on the proposal of renovating Thackeray’s farmhouse,” he said.
A source in the Shiv Sena said Thackeray and his son Uddhav are at the farmhouse since Monday. They are expected to return to the city on Friday, a day before the Sena patriarch’s 83rd birthday. In all probability they will discuss and finalise the renovation plans before leaving the place, the source said.
“Saheb reached the farmhouse around 12:30pm on Monday. They took a helicopter from Juhu to ND Studio at Chowk and then drove to the farmhouse,” he said. “Their travel plan was kept a secret because it is a family visit.”
Thackeray had visited the farmhouse only twice before in the past 14 years — on the first death anniversary of Meenatai and for a couple of hours in December 2005 when his nephew Raj quit the Sena.
The farmhouse, built in 1980, is spread over an area of 6.5 acre near the Bhilawale dam. Surrounded by dense forest, the farmhouse is in a low-lying area. After renovation, Thackeray will be able to watch the waters of the dam.
On the other side of the dam is a farmhouse owned by water resources minister Ajit Pawar, who too is a good friend of Avinash Bhosale.
Uddhav had used Bhosale’s private helicopter in 2005 to shoot Shivaji’s forts.
