Kolhapur, Maharashtra (October 5, 2024): Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader, unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Saturday in in Kasaba Bawada.
The unveiling comes months after controversy surrounded the collapse of another statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Malvan, Maharashtra. Addressing the crowd after unveiling the statue, he criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying, “The Congress party today is fighting against the same ideology that Shivaji Maharaj fought against. They (BJP) made a statue of Shivaji Maharaj and after a few days, the statue broke and fell down,” he said, as quoted by TOI.
Gandhi also criticized the BJP for not inviting tribal President Droupadi Murmu to the inauguration of Parliament.
“They did not allow the tribal President to attend the inauguration of Ram Mandir and Parliament... This is not a political fight, this is a fight of ideology,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi further elaborated on the direct link between Shivaji Maharaj's thoughts and the Constitution. Shivaji Maharaj had said that the country belongs to everyone. We have to move ahead taking along everyone, there should be no injustice. There's a direct connection between Shivaji Maharaj's thoughts and our Constitution. The Constitution is based on his thoughts. The Constitution won't have been there if people like Shivaji Maharaj, Shahuji Maharaj wouldn't have been there. In India, there's a struggle between two ideologies. One ideology protects this (Constitution), talks about equality, unity. This is Shivaji Maharaj's ideology. And the other ideology is working to finish the Constitution, he said.
Following the ceremony, Gandhi is set to pay homage to Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj at the Shahu Samadhi Sthal and participate in the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan before heading back to Delhi.