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Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that PM Narendra Modi should apologise to all the people of Maharashtra for the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Sindhudurg district. The 35-feet tall statue of iconic Maratha warrior king Shivaji Maharaj, unveiled by PM Narendra Modi on August 26, collapsed at Rajkot Fort in Malvan tehsil of the district.
Speaking at a public meeting in Sangli, Rahul Gandhi asked, “What is PM Modi apologising for?” “Is it because the contract to build Shivaji’s statue was given to an RSS man who had no qualifications, or for corruption in the process, or for insulting Shivaji Maharaj,” Rahul Gandhi said. He said PM Modi should also apologise to the country for demonetisation, anti-farmer bills and GST.
The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP coalition government in Maharashtra has come under fire over the statue’s toppling incident last month; the Prime Minister, during his subsequent visit to the state, had said he apologised to the revered king, his “devata” and those whose sentiments were hurt.
Taking advantage of the incident, Congress leaders launched a scathing attack on the NDA-ruled government in Maharashtra, leading to a political controversy.
He said, “Whatever the reason, the Prime Minister and the BJP are criminals of Shivaji Maharaj as well as entire Maharashtra – they should apologise to every resident of the state for their behaviour and corruption.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar attended the event in Sangli. But ally Shiv Sena (Uttar Pradesh) chief Uddhav Thackeray was conspicuous by his absence.
Rahul Gandhi further said, “PM Modi should answer why all the contracts were given only to Adani and Ambani and why is he running the government for only two people.”
“An apology is sought only when you make a mistake,” the Congress leader said.
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