Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is facing criticism over the incident of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue collapsing, said on Thursday that if needed, he would not hesitate to touch the feet of this mighty ruler 100 times and apologize for the incident. Talking to reporters here, Shinde said that the opposition has other issues to do politics, but Shivaji Maharaj, who is revered in Maharashtra, should be kept away from it.
Amid the heat over the statue collapse incident in Sindhudurg district four days ago, the state government has set up a technical committee to ascertain the cause of the accident, while members of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar staged silent protests across Maharashtra against the incident.
Shinde asserted, “Chhatrapati Shivaji is the patron deity of Maharashtra. I am ready to touch his feet 100 times and apologise (for the statue breaking incident). I will not back down from apologising. Our government works keeping his (Shivaji’s) ideals in mind.” His remarks came a day after Ajit Pawar apologised to the people of the state for the collapse of the statue. It was installed in the coastal district’s Malvan tehsil, about 480 km from Mumbai.
The 35-foot-high statue of the 17th-century Maratha Empire founder, installed in the Rajkot fort complex, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nearly nine months after it was unveiled, it collapsed on August 26, kicking up a political storm in the state, where elections are due in the next few months. The state government has said that the project was carried out by the Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy said on Thursday that it had conceptualised the project to install the Shivaji statue that collapsed in Malvan, Maharashtra this week and implemented it in coordination with the state government and the state government also provided funds for it. The Navy said in a statement that it is committed to assist in all steps to repair the statue and reinstall it as soon as possible.
A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office after Shinde’s meeting with ministers, top state officials and Navy officials late on Wednesday night said that the government has constituted a technical committee to investigate the reasons behind the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue. The committee will include engineers, IIT experts and Navy officials.
Shinde said that two joint committees have been formed. One committee will find out the reasons behind the accident, while the other committee will include experts, sculptors having experience in making Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statues, engineers and naval officers who will consider the aspect of reconstruction.
The Chief Minister said, “Our effort is to reconstruct the statue.” Shinde said that the Navy has demanded that the area where the statue has been installed be cordoned off for inspection and reconstruction work be started. In connection with the incident, workers of Maratha organization Sambhaji Brigade protested outside the house of sculptor Jaideep Apte, who made the statue, in the nearby Thane city. NCP, a constituent of the Mahayuti government, held a state-wide protest demanding immediate reconstruction of the statue.
During Ajit Pawar’s Jan Samman Yatra in Nanded, NCP’s Maharashtra unit president Sunil Tatkare said that the fall of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue is sad and his party has decided to protest against the incident as everyone has the right to do so. He said, “In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest. The incident of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue falling in Malvan is unfortunate and sad. We are protesting against it and are demanding strict action against the culprits by submitting a memorandum to the officials.” In Pune, the NCP’s city unit protested near the statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Shivajinagar.
In Latur city of central Maharashtra, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) workers protested against the statue collapse incident.
Opposition leaders have announced that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will hold a protest march in Mumbai on September 1 against the statue collapse incident. Language