Congress slams Modi over collapsed Shivaji statue: ‘Will he apologise for putting ambitions over legacy?

Amid the political row over the collapse of a 35-foot Chhatrapati Shivaji statue in Maharashtra, the Congress party attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking if he would apologise to the Maratha empire founder for putting his own personal ambitions above the Maharaj's legacy.

The opposition parties in Maharashtra have been attacking the ruling government over the collapse of a huge statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Rajkot Fort on Monday. The statue was inaugurated by PM Modi on December 4 last year as part of Navy Day festivities.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a video on X in which the country's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is seen inaugurating a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Pratapgad on November 30, 1957. Ramesh said in his post, “67 years later, the statue still stands tall and undamaged.”

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal attacked PM Modi and the Maharashtra administration for “hurriedly” constructing the Shivaji statue so that it is inaugurated by the prime minister before the Lok Sabha elections.

Venugopal wrote in an X post, “In true Modi fashion, the priority was to hurriedly construct a statue on 3 months’ notice, so that it is inaugurated by the PM just before elections. What’s more, this shoddy work cost Rs. 236 crores! Will PM Modi apologise to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for putting his own personal ambitions above Maharaj’s legacy?”

Read more: Shivaji statue collapse: MVA to hold protest march on September 1, demands CM Shinde's resignation

"Will the PM come clean on the rampant corruption that we saw in the hasty inauguration spree that we saw prior to the 2024 elections?" he asked. The Congress leader further claimed all structures inaugurated by PM Modi for election purposes is not crumbling.

"Here are just some examples of infrastructure that the BJP launched in haste, only for them to collapse soon after: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Statue at Sindhudurg Fort: Inauguration: December 2023, Collapse: August 2024; Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link: Inauguration: January 2024, cracks appear: June 2024; Mumbai Coastal Road: Inauguration: March 2024, Leakage: May 2024; Jabalpur Airport: Inauguration: March 2024, roof collapse: June 2024; Sudarshan Setu Bridge (Gujarat): Inauguration: February 2024, potholes appear: July 2024," he said.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that the MVA will hold a protest march against the state government over the Shivaji statue collapse incident, and said that the Eknath Shinde administration should be “ashamed” for blaming high winds for the incident.

(With inputs from PTI)