Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government faced a major embarrassment on Monday when a 35-feet tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is regarded as the “aadhar daivat” (presiding deity) of Maharashtra, collapsed at the historic Rajkot Fort of Malvan in coastal Sindhudurg district.
Added to the embarrassment was the fact that the statue was inaugurated only on December 4 last year by prime minister Narendra Modi as part of high-profile Navy Day celebrations in the presence of defence minister Rajnath Singh, Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
CM Shinde Appeared To Blame The Indian Navy
CM Shinde appeared to blame the Indian Navy when he said, “The statue was designed and erected by the Navy.” The incident is certain to become a major political issue in the upcoming assembly elections with the ruling coalition on the defensive.
Opposition Attacks PWD Department Helmed By BJP Minister
However, the opposition said the statue was built by the state Public Works Department helmed by minister Ravindra Chavan of the BJP. Incidentally, only a few days ago Ramdas Kadam of the Shiv Sena (Shinde) had described Chavan as a “useless” minister. He even demanded Chavan’s sacking in the context of the pathetic plight of the Mumbai-Goa Road.
Chavan is also the guardian minister of Sindhudurg and had overseen the contract for sculpting and erecting the statue. The fact that he is from the BJP has particularly put the party in a political corner with the opposition parties going hammer and tongs against it.
Vaibhav Naik, MLA of the Shiv Sena (UBT) led a mob which vandalised the local office of the PWD in Sindhudurg to protest against the poor quality of work. Leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar (Congress) alleged corruption in the statue project.
Supriya Sule of the NCP (Sharad Pawar) alleged that the contract for the statue was given to a businessman from Thane, which is the home district of CM Shinde. She was tacitly holding Shinde responsible for the collapse.
State Minister Deepak Kesarkar Clarifies
State minister Deepak Kesarkar said the collapse of the statue around 1.00 p.m. was the result of continuous rain and heavy winds for the past three days. The statue is located close to the sea and apparently it was not designed to face the full brunt of strong winds which are common during monsoon.
Kesarkar said the reason for the collapse would be probed and a new statue will be erected at the same spot. Nitesh Rane, who is the BJP legislator from nearby Kankavali, told FPJ that “whoever is responsible for the poor workmanship should be punished severely whether they are PWD officials or contractors.” “The incident is very unfortunate,” he added.
Opposition Parties Planning Black Flag Demonstration
Senior officials from the Sindhudurg collectorate and police department rushed to the site of the collapse when informed by locals about the incident. The initial assessment revealed that the statue simply could not withstand the force of the monsoon winds.
Opposition parties are planning black flag demonstration against Modi when he comes to Dahanu taluka in Palghar district to lay the foundation stone of the mega Vadhavan port.
Indian Navy Statement
The Indian Navy released a statement on Shivaji statue collapse which said that the statue was designed by experts in the domain and it was a coordinated effort by both the state government and the Indian Navy.
After the unveiling, the statue was handed over to the local administration for maintenance. The exact reason of the collapse can only be ascertained by site assessment which is under progress.
