Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Mumbai Police on Friday detained Congress MP and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad for protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Maharashtra.
The Congress workers led by Gaikwad protested in Bandra against the PM's visit and demanded that the Prime Minister should apologise for the collapse of the statue of Maratha Warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district.
"The statue Of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was unveiled eight months ago in the Rajkot fort in Malvan. That statue has collapsed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi went there and inaugurated the statue. We want the Prime Minister to publicly apologise to the followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and all the people of Maharashtra. We allege that there is massive corruption in the work of this statue and on behalf of the Mahavikas Aghadi, we will protest the place you are coming," Gaikwad, daughter of former MP late Eknath Gaikwad, said in a media statement before the protests began.
The Mumbai Police had issued a notice to Varsha Gaikwad and asked her and the Congress party not to protest. "The Decision of the High Court is that you cannot march or protest in public places. You can hold a march and protest only at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. The possibility of damage to public property cannot be ruled out," read the notice sent by Mumbai Police.
"Due to this reason, the Mumbai Police had refused permission to Congress to hold a protest in Bandra. There have been widespread protests in Maharashtra after the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar have apologised for the incident and two probe committees have been formed. The statue was installed by the Indian Navy.
