Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday apologised for the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue at Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, saying that the Maratha emperor was “not just a king for me and my colleagues”. Modi was addressing a public gathering at Palghar.
“For me, my colleagues, and everyone, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a king. He is highly revered and worshipped. For us, he is our aaradhya dev (revered deity),” Modi said. “I also extend my apologies to all those who worship Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their revered deity. I know their sentiments are hurt,” he added.
This comes after the 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by the Prime Minister on December 4 last year, collapsed on August 26 afternoon. The incident has sparked widespread concern and criticism across the state, given the historical and cultural significance of the Maratha warrior king.
“Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them. Our values are different. For us, nothing is bigger than our deity,” the PM added.
Meanwhile, the statue collapse incident has snowballed into a political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra and seeking Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s resignation. It had seen the ruling and Opposition parties in poll-bound Maharashtra engage in an ugly war of words.
Initially, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said the statue collapsed due to heavy winds along the seashore. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the statue was built by the Navy, not the state government.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday visited the Rajkot fort in Malvan where the statue had collapsed and vowed to erect a grand structure of the warrior king at the same place. In a post on X, Pawar called Shivaji the pride and self-respect of Maharashtra.