Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse: Members of Ajit Pawar's NCP protest over incident in Pune

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The workers of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) party, which is led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Ajit Pawar, staged a silent protest in Pune on Thursday over the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse incident.

A 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the state's Sindhudurg district collapsed on Monday afternoon. The statue was inaugurated in December by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Navy Day.

NCP's Maharashtra spokesperson Anand Paranjpe said, "The incident that took place in Sindhudurg district is very reprehensible and the state government has ordered an investigation into it. But we demand the immediate intervention of the Home Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and people responsible for the poor work should be arrested."

Various opposition leaders. including Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackery, questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government over the incident.

"Two days ago, people saw how the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj fell and what kind of statements people are making. The Rajya Bhavan is on the seashore but even the Governor's hat never flew and they say that the statue of Shivaji Maharaj fell owing to strong winds. How is this possible?" questioned Thackeray.

His response came after Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that the "statue fell and was damaged owing to strong winds."

Hitting out at the state government, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole claimed that both the governments at the Centre and the state "knew nothing except corruption".

"The way the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was vandalised is because of their corruption. Be it this government or in the Centre, they know nothing except corruption. They have never lagged in insulting the ideas of Shivaji Maharaj, the lord of Maharashtra. Yesterday's incident is a misfortune for Maharashtra and its people and no one will forgive this government. It should leave the chair now and run away," said Patole.

On Wednesday, Pawar extended his apology to the people of Maharashtra over the incident at Rajkot Fort. The deputy CM also assured strict punishment for those responsible for it. Meanwhile, an engineer and the structural consultant for the project have been booked in the incident.

(With ANI inputs)