After Maha Vikas Aghadi's call for protest march over Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse incident, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavais said on Sunday that the agitation is completely political and MVA or Congress, never respected Chhatrapati Shivaji. "This agitation is completely political. Be it Maha Vikas Aghadi or Congress party, they never respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Nehru ji insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in The Discovery of India. Will Congress and MVA apologise for it? In Madhya Pradesh, the then CM Kamal Nath demolished the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with bulldozer. Even years after independence, the same Congress taught us that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj looted Surat. He never looted Surat. People of Surat erected a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj there. Will Congress apologise for it?" the Maharashtra Deputy CM said.
NCP general secretary and MP Sunil Tatkare said it is inappropriate that the MVA is politicizing the incident. "It is unfortunate that the incident took place, but Maha Vikas Aghadi is politicizing this. It is inappropriate. The Prime Minister, Chief Minister and both Deputy Chief Ministers have apologised. So I don't think it is right to politicise it," Tatkare said. Meanwhile, the Mumbai police have tightened security in response to the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) call for a protest march following the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue.
The MVA is holding hold a protest march today from Hutatma Chowk to the Gateway of India on Sunday. Police and other security personnel have been deployed throughout the city. A 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district collapsed on August 26. It had been unveiled on December 4 last year as part of Navy Day celebrations, which were held in Sindhudurg for the first time. Earlier, Chetan Patil, the structural consultant of the Shivaji Maharaj statue that collapsed in the Malvan area of Sindhudurg, was arrested from Kolhapur. The FIR was registered under sections 109, 110, 125, 318, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as confirmed by Sindhudurg Police.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the state government is taking decisions on a war footing for the reconstruction of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and two committees have been formed, including one to investigate the collapse of the statue in the Malvan area of the state.