NCP stages protest in Pune over Shivaji statue collapse
The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg’s Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2023 on Navy Day
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), part of the Maharashtra government, on Thursday staged silent protests in Pune and other parts of western Maharashtra over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and demanded action against those responsible. The party’s state chief asserted that everyone has the right to agitate over issues.
The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg’s Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2023 on Navy Day.
The incident has snowballed into a major political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government over it.
In Pune, the NCP city unit staged a protest near the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Shivajinagar area.
Deepak Mankar, NCP city unit president, urged the state government to reconstruct the statue as early as possible. “For us, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is a matter of pride and symbol of our identity,” he said, adding that Pawar had also condemned the incident and the party’s Pune unit will submit a memorandum to the district collector.
Pradeep Deshmukh, NCP Pune unit working president, sought to know how the contract for the statue was given to someone who had no experience in constructing huge statues.
On why NCP, part of ruling Mahayuti alliance, is staging protest, Deshmukh said, “For the sake of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, we can sacrifice hundreds of such governments.”