Mumbai (Maharashtra): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shine on Thursday said that he was ready to apologise 100 times for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse.
The statue of the 17th-century Maratha warrior king, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, collapsed at Rajkot Fort in the Sindhudurg district.
"Chhatrapati Shivaji is a patron deity of Maharashtra. I am ready to touch his feet 100 times and apologise (for the statue collapse). I will not shy away from apologising. Our government functions keeping his (Shivaji's) ideals in mind," Shinde told reporters here.
His remarks come a day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar apologised to the people of the state for the collapse of the structure which was installed in Malvan tehsil, around 480km from Mumbai.
The Maharashtra government has pointed out that the project was handled by the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy on Thursday said it conceptualised and steered the project of installing the Shivaji statue in coordination with the state government which provided funding for it.
In a statement, the Navy said it remains committed to assisting in all measures to repair, restore and reinstate the statue at the earliest.
A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office after Shinde held a late-night meeting on Wednesday with ministers, top state and Navy officials said the government has set up a technical committee to probe reasons behind the collapse of the Shivaji Maharaj statue. The panel will comprise engineers, IIT experts and Navy officials.
Shinde said two joint panels have been formed. "One panel will ascertain the reasons behind the crash, while the other committee comprising experts, sculptors with experience of building Chhatrapati Shivaji statues, engineers and Navy officials will look into the reconstruction aspect. Our endeavour is to rebuild the statue," the CM maintained.
He further said that "no one should politicise such an unfortunate incident".
Meanwhile, activists of the Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha outfit, started a protest outside the house of Jaideep Apte, the sculptor who built the statue, in adjoining Thane city.
Protesters accused Apte of disrespecting Shivaji Maharaj, and their demonstration included blackening his house's door, posting a "Shivdrohi" label, and breaking eggs.
The NCP, a constituent of the Mahayuti government, staged state-wide protests demanding swift rebuilding of the statue. Speaking in Nanded during Ajit Pawar's 'Jan Sanman Yatra', NCP's Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare said the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj's statue was painful, and added his party decided to protest against the incident as everyone has the right to do so.
"In a democracy, everyone has a right to agitate. The incident in Malvan was unfortunate and painful. We are also agitating against it and demanding strong action against the culprits by submitting memorandums to the authorities," Tatkare maintained.
In Pune, the city unit of the NCP staged a protest near a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Shivajinagar. 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, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is a matter of pride and a symbol of our identity," he said.
In Thane, NCP spokesperson Anand Paranjape said those involved in the project, ranging from architects to government officials, must face strict action. "Even though we (NCP) are in power, the incident has caused anger to us and hence this protest," Paranjape said. In Latur city in central Maharashtra, activists of NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) staged a protest against the statue collapse.
Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court demanding that a Public Works Department should be booked in connection with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue collapse. The petition was filed by Ketan Tirodkar and he contended that the statue was built in haste. (With inputs from PTI)
