Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar, which is part of the Maharashtra government, held a silent protest across the state on Thursday over the incident of the fall of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and demanded action against those responsible for it. At the same time, the state president of the party said that everyone has the right to protest.
The 35-foot-high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg’s Malvan tehsil fell on August 26. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about nine months ago. This incident has taken the form of a major political controversy and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has targeted the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government over it.
Opposition leaders on Wednesday announced that the MVA will hold a march in Mumbai on September 1 against the collapse of the statue, while the ruling NCP also said it would hold silent protests in every district and tehsil of the state on Thursday and demand installation of a stronger and bigger statue of the great Maratha ruler at the same spot.
NCP workers, who staged protests across the state, also submitted a memorandum to tehsildars and district magistrates, demanding strict action against the artist and others responsible for the poor quality of the statue.
NCP’s opposition is also considered important because the party is one of the three constituents of the Mahayuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and is considering the possible political consequences amid the massive outrage generated by the fall 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 was 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.”
On Rane’s statement in reports during the clash between supporters of BJP leader Narayan Rane and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers during Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray’s visit to Rajkot Durg on Wednesday, Tatkare said, “Rane’s statement is inappropriate. The incident of the statue falling is sad, but such language does not befit a responsible leader. It is not in accordance with the culture of Maharashtra.”