In a dramatic show of protest, Congress party leaders staged a demonstration at Shivaji Park in Mumbai in response to the recent collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue. The statue, located at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2023. The incident, occurring just eight months after its inauguration, has sparked significant outrage across the state.
With Prime Minister Modi visiting Mumbai today, August 30, the Youth Congress is calling for an apology from the Prime Minister. Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad claimed that she, along with other Congress leaders, was detained by police on Friday morning as they prepared to protest. “The police have been at my residence since 7 am. They are not even allowing me to walk two steps. What can I say if asking [the Prime Minister] to apologize or staging a silent protest is a crime? If questions cannot be asked to the country’s Prime Minister, then whom should we pose our questions to?” Gaikwad said.
The Congress workers, led by MP Gaikwad, later arrived at Shivaji Park, Dadar in a police van. They initiated their demonstration by displaying placards and tying black ribbons to symbolize their protest. “We are representing the entire Maharashtra here. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is our identity and pride, and there can be no compromise on it. The statue inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself collapsed in eight months. It is his moral responsibility to apologize to the people of Maharashtra. Reasons such as the statue collapse due to wind pressure are not acceptable,” Gaikwad asserted.
Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh also voiced his concerns on social media, stating, “I, along with other senior Congress leaders, have been unjustly detained for demanding justice for the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue and for addressing rising rape cases, while those responsible remain unpunished! Narendra Modi Ji, this negligence demands an apology.”
In response to the mishap, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has formed two technical committees. One committee will investigate the cause of the statue’s collapse, while the other will focus on the prompt erection of a new statue at the same location.
