Maharashtra Opposition alleges corruption after Shivaji statue collapses
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Mumbai: The Opposition in Maharashtra blamed the state government for the collapse of the statue of Shivaji in Sindhudurg district inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Navy Day in December, Scroll reported.
The 35-foot statue standing at the Rajkot Fort in the Malvan region collapsed on Monday afternoon amid heavy rains.
A leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, Supriya Sule, said statue’s collapse is an insult to 17th century ruler Shivaji.
The Lok Sabha MP reportedly said ‘It is obvious that the work of this statue was of poor quality, which is why the statue collapsed before completing a year’, adding ‘This is an open deception by the prime minister. There is a need for a thorough investigation to look into the inferior quality of the statue.’
Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra chief of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) alleged that ruling Mahayuti government was responsible for the statue collapse, adding the government ‘did not take proper care’ of it.
Jayant Patil reportedly said: ‘The government paid little attention to the quality of work’, adding ‘It only focused on conducting an event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to unveil the statue.’
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader, Aaditya Thackeray, came down heavily on the government alleging that the statue was built hastily ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
“We will never tolerate the insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is our and all Maharashtra’s idol!” Thackeray was quoted as stating on social media.
Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said that the Maharashtra government had not spared even ‘ Maharaj’ from its ‘dirty business of commission’.
Expressing concern at the incident, the Navy, as reported by news agency ANI, said that it has deputed a team to ‘immediately investigate the cause of this unfortunate accident and initiate steps to repair, restore and reinstate the statue at the earliest’.
