Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders, including NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Congress state unit chief Nana Patole, on Sunday (September 1) held a march from the iconic Hutatma Chowk to Gateway of India in Mumbai to protest against the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district.
NCP (SP) supremo Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Thackeray, Congress state unit chief Nana Patole and the party's Mumbai head Varsha Gaikwad began the protest march by laying wreaths at Hutatma Chowk, a memorial to those martyred in the 'Samyukta Maharashtra' agitation.
Addressing a gathering at Gateway of India, where the protest march culminated, Thackeray said, "Did you notice the arrogance in the (Prime Minister Narendra Modi's) apology? It smacked of arrogance. One deputy chief minister was smiling." Asserting that people of Maharashtra will never forgive the insult to the legendary warrior king, Thackeray cited the statue collapse, leakages in the Ram Temple and the new Parliament complex to mock Modi's "guarantees".
For what was the PM apologising? For the statue he inaugurated eight months ago? For the corruption involved? The MVA cadre must work together to defeat the forces that have insulted Shivaji Maharaj. The collapse of the statue is an insult to the soul of Maharashtra," he asserted.During his address in Palghar on Friday, PM Modi had said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name or a king but a deity. "Today, I bow my head at his feet and apologise to my deity," he had said.