'They Never Respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj': Devendra Fadnavis On MVA Protest In Mumbai

Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (1 September) described the agitation by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse incident as "completely political".

He said that neither the MVA nor the Congress ever respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"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 a bulldozer," Fadnavis said, news agency ANI reported.

"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 added.

NCP General Secretary and MP Sunil Tatkare also criticised the MVA for 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 apologized. So I don't think it is right to politicize it," Tatkare said.

The MVA is holding 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.

This comes after a 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district collapsed on 26 August.

The statue had been unveiled on 4 December last year during Navy Day celebrations, marking the first time the event was held in Sindhudurg.

Following the incident, Chetan Patil, the structural consultant of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue that collapsed in the Malvan area of Sindhudurg, was arrested from Kolhapur.

An FIR was filed under sections 109, 110, 125, 318, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to Sindhudurg Police.

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