Statue collapse: Ruling NCP holds silent protests; party leader says everyone has right to agitate

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is part of the Maharashtra government, on Thursday staged silent protests across the state over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and demanded action against those responsible, while the party’s state chief asserted that everyone has the right to agitate.

The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg’s Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The incident has snowballed into a major political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government over it.

The opposition leaders on Wednesday announced that on September 1, the MVA will take out a protest march in Mumbai against the statue collapse, while the ruling NCP also said it would stage silent protests in every district and tehsil of the state on Thursday and demand the installation of a stronger and larger statue of the warrior king at the same spot.

Accordingly, party workers staged protests across the state. The local leaders also submitted a memorandum of demands with the tehsildars and district collectors seeking stringent action against the artist and others who were responsible for the poor quality of the statue.

The NCP’s protest assumes significance given that the party is one of the three constituents in the Mahayuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and considering the potential political ramifications amid huge outrage caused by the collapse of the statue.

Speaking in Nanded during Ajit Pawar’s Jansanman Yatra, NCP’s Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare said the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue was painful, and added that his party decided to protest against the incident as everyone has the right to do so.

“In democracy, everyone has a right to agitate. The incident of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Malvan is unfortunate and painful. We are also agitating against it and demanding strong action against the culprits by submitting memorandums to the authorities.” Referring to the reported remarks passed by BJP leader Narayan Rane during a clash between his supporters and the workers of Shiv Sena (UBT) during Aaditya Thackeay’s visit to the Rajkot fort on Wednesday, Tatkare said, “Rane’s statement is improper. Though the statue collapse incident is painful, this kind of language does not befit a responsible leader. This is not in sync with the culture of Maharashtra.” In Pune, the city unit of the NCP staged a protest near the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Shivajinagar area.

Speaking during the protest, NCP’s city unit president Deepak Mankar urged the state government to reconstruct the statue as early as possible. “For us, Chhatrpati Shivaji Maharaj is a matter of pride and a symbol of our identity,” he said.

Mankar said action should be taken against those responsible for the statue collapse.

Stating that party chief Ajit Pawar had also condemned the incident, he said the Pune unit of the party will submit a memorandum to the district collector in this regard.

Pradeep Deshmukh, NCP Pune unit’s working president sought to know how the contract for the statue was given to someone who had no experience in constructing the huge statues. “Action should be taken against the responsible people, including officials,” he said.

When asked why the NCP was protesting despite being a constituent of ruling Mahayuti alliance, he said Deshmukh said, “For the sake of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, we can sacrifice hundreds of such governments.”