Politics has heated up over the 35 feet high statue of Shivaji Maharaj that collapsed due to strong winds in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Uddhav faction leader Sanjay Raut had alleged that even during the Mughal period, Shivaji Maharaj was not insulted in such a manner. Now in this matter, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the collapsed statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was made by the Navy and the state government will now install a huge statue of the Maratha warrior at the same place.
In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a 35-foot-high statue of the founder of the 17th century Maratha Empire at Rajkot Fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg on Navy Day on December 4 last year. This statue collapsed on Monday afternoon.
Speaking to reporters here, Devendra Fadnavis said, “The construction of the statue was supervised by the Navy and not the state government. Those responsible for the construction and installation of the statue may have ignored important local factors such as high wind speed and the quality of iron used in it. The statue would be more prone to rusting due to exposure to winds blowing from the sea.”
The senior BJP leader said that now the question is whether the makers of the statue had understood all these factors. He said, “Our resolve is to build a bigger statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the same place.” He said that the incident of the collapse of the statue is being investigated.
When asked about the opposition parties targeting him over the incident, Fadnavis said, “The fall of the statue is sad but the opposition parties’ stand on it is not right. There is no need to politicise the issue.”
After the statue fell, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday claimed that the incident happened due to the wind blowing at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour. Opposition parties have targeted the state government saying that the statue was installed in a hurry in view of the Lok Sabha elections.