Cracks within Maharashtra NDA? BJP ally Ajit Pawar’s NCP to protest over Shivaji statue’s collapse

Condemning the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar called for a silent protest pointing to cracks within the ruling NDA coalition in Maharashtra ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls.

NCP president Sunil Tatkare in a statement said, "It is very painful and heart-wrenching that the statue of the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj erected at the Rajkot fort in Malvan has crashed. It is shocking that this statue fell in just eight months (after it was inaugurated)," NDTV reported.

Charging that it was an unforgivable mistake, he declared that the party has decided to organise a rally across the state today, August 29, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. The silent demonstration will be held in front of statues of the Maratha warrior to protest against this and to take precautions to prevent such untoward accidents in the future.

"We will demand that strict action be taken against whoever is guilty in this case," NDTV quoted the NCP state president as saying.

The Shivaji statue was erected by the Navy at Rajkot Fort, in Malvan and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. The Opposition parties blamed the Eknath Shinde-led Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government alleging it had paid little attention to the quality of work. The 35-foot tall Chhatrapati Shivaji statue installed in Sindhudurg district collapsed on Monday, August 26, PTI reported.

NCP (Sharad Pawar) State unit president and former Minister Jayant Patil said, “The state government is responsible for the collapse, as it did not take proper care. The government paid little attention to the quality of work."

Lashing out at the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling dispensation in Maharashtra, Jayant Patil alleged that the National Democratic Alliance only focused on conducting the event in which PM Modi was invited, rather than paying attention to the quality of work.