02 September,2009 07:48 AM IST | | A correspondent
At a time when two-thirds of the state is said to be drought-ridden, the government's decision to allocate Rs 350 crore to erect a Shivaji statue in the Arabian Sea had attracted criticism from several people.
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The latest is Purushotam Khedekar, the president of Maratha Seva Sangh, an organisation fighting for reservation for Marathas.
"If Shivaji Maharaj was alive today, he would have told the government to set aside the decision of erecting the statue for some time and first provide reservations to the Maratha community," he said.
"We all want the statue to be erected, but everybody wants to encash on Shivaji's name.
Most citizens of this state understand and know the life history of Shivaji Maharaj, including his role as a king, but do politicians have any understanding of how he administered the state? I would admire the minister who understands how Maharaj administered a welfare state," added Khedekar.
Poll issue
Earlier, Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar had said that the Congress-NCP was treating the statue as an election issue while several issues like slums, education, housing, city transport and infrastructure were either unheeded or pending.
Ketkar had pointed out that it would be better if the government started some development work and named the project after Shivaji. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had also said, "We are not against a statue.
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We are only against the politicisation of the issue."
