Congress targets PM Modi over collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

The collapse of Shivaji statue at Sindhudurg in Maharashtra recently has given Congress fresh ammunition to fire at Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Assembly elections in the state, the schedule for which is expected to be announced by the EC soon.

Targeting PM Modi on the issue, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday drew parallels with a statue of Shivaji unveiled by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru 67 years back that has still remained intact.

On November 30, 1957, Nehru inaugurated the Shivaji statue at Pratapgad Fort in Maharashtra, which was erected as a memorial to Shivaji’s assassination of Bijapur general Afzal Khan and subsequent defeat inflicted on the Bijapur army by Shivaji’s forces in the Battle of Pratapgad.

Incidentally, the killing of Afzal Khan by Shivaji during a meeting on November 30, 1659 is an important event in the calendar of the Hindu right. The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government in Maharashtra recently brought to Mumbai from a London museum the ‘wagh nakh’ or tiger claw-shaped weapon purportedly used by Shivaji to disembowel Khan.

Shivaji’s connection with Sindhudurg dates back to 1667 when the Sindhudurg Fort was built by him in 1667 to keep an eye on seafaring adventurers from Europe. A 35-ft statue of Shivaji at Sindhudurg’s Malvan inaugurated by Modi in December last year as part of Navy Day celebrations collapsed on Monday (August 26), sparking a controversy.

“Last year, the PM unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, which collapsed in just eight months. The temple of God in Ayodhya, the statues of Saptarishis in Ujjain Mahakal Lok, the new Parliament, highways, bridges, roads, tunnels — whatever has been built, flaws are seen in all of them every day,” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi wrote on X.

“BJP will have to answer for every corruption done in the name of our faith, our great men and the country,” Gandhi added.

“In true Modi fashion, the priority was to hurriedly construct a statue on three months’ notice, so that it is inaugurated by the PM just before elections. What’s more, this shoddy work cost Rs 236 crores!”, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said.

“Will PM Modi apologise to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for putting his own personal ambitions above Maharaj’s legacy? 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?” Venugopal asked the PM.