Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has called for an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Gandhi's remarks came after the incident, which he described as a profound disrespect to the legendary Maratha warrior king. Addressing the issue, Rahul Gandhi highlighted the contrast between the handling of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and that of late Congress minister Patangrao Kadam. “I give you a guarantee that Kadam ji's statue, once installed, will remain here even after 50-70 years. However, the Shivaji Maharaj statue, which was recently installed, fell just a few days later. This incident is a clear insult to Shivaji Maharaj,” Gandhi asserted.
The Maharashtra police on Wednesday night arrested sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at the Rajkot Fort in Malvan. Apte, who went missing after the incident, was nabbed from Kalyan in Thane district nearly 10 days after an FIR was filed against him.Jaydeep Apte, 24, is a Thane-based sculptor who reportedly owns an art company in Kalyan. He was responsible for creating the 35-foot Shivaji Maharaj statue, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.Jaydeep Apte reportedly had no prior experience in constructing large statues.
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The Sindhudurg police had filed an FIR against Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for the collapse of the statue last month under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for negligence and other offences. While Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week, Apte was untraceable. Following this, the police had formed seven teams to look for him. On Thursday, the congress leader & leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi departed for Maharashtra, today to launch the Congress campaign for the upcoming state elections. Which is due this year.
Upon arrival, Rahul Gandhi unveiled a statue of the late Patangrao Kadam, a former Minister of State, in Wangi.Meanwhile, Congress is contesting Maharashtra elections in alliance with the UBT Sena and the NCP-SP. The grand old party is part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which also includes Uddhav Thackeray’s Shivsena UBT and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).