Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held separate protests in Maharashtra's Mumbai on Sunday in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue. While the MVA's protest march, which started from Hutatma Chowk to Gateway of India, aimed to condemn the incident, the BJP staged a counter-protest against the MVA in the Dadri area of Mumbai, accusing the latter of politicising the issue.
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 during Navy Day celebrations, marking the first such event in Sindhudurg. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said, "PM was emotional, he expressed his grief over the incident, but the government of Maharashtra, which should have expressed themselves, didn't. On the contrary, they started picking up with the opposition in a wrong way and saying that we were politicising the issue, whereas this was the most emotional issue that Maharashtra never witnessed in the past. We had democratically done everything, we had applied to the administration and the police, and we expected that permission would come in due course, which they didn't do."
He further said that it looks as if some warlike opposition is going to take place. "But we are assuring and expecting cooperation from the same administration and police authorities because this morcha will be held in a very democratic and disciplined way. They (the ruling side) may call it (political) because they have nothing to defend. They have nothing on their side to defend. Now, whatever is being done by the opposition is just being criticised, but people are aware. People of Maharashtra know who is playing politics and who is on the road with our pride...Government should resign," the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP added.
Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the opposition's protest as purely political. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant emphasized that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is revered as a god-like figure and criticised the authorities for hindering their protest. He claimed that the statue's collapse represented a blow to their honour and self-respect."His statue collapsed, and with that, our devotion, honour, and self-respect collapsed and fell there. Despite such disrespect, leaders of political parties are supporting it--what else will do if not condemn them? Uddhav Thackeray has said that is an insult to Maharashtra. We are being stopped in our own Maharashtra by our police and we can't go ahead with it (the protest march). I have never seen such helpless police. What if they did (apologise)? See the timing. Isn't the statement political?" he said.
Further, MP Sawant said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always makes political statements. "Had he felt such sympathy, he would have gone to Manipur. The Central Government's policy is to disrespect Maharashtra. This is not political, this agitation is for the honour of Maharashtra, which has been insulted," he added. (