MUMBAI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to every Maharashtrian for the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Sindhudurg district.
“I want to ask the prime minister what he is sorry for; is it because the contract to make the Shivaji statue was given to a person who had no merit, or for the corruption in the proces,” Gandhi said at a public meeting in Sangli after inaugurating a statue of late party leader Patangrao Kadam.
With the Mahayuti government coming under fire over the collapse of the statue last month, the PM during his visit to the state said he apologised to the iconic king, his “deity”, and also the people whose sentiments were hurt.
“In last eight years, Modi never apologised for any incident but now apologised because there are elections in Maharashtra and he needs you for that. Therefore, Modi should apologise for every person for poor quality work and corruption that happened in the statue installation,” the leader of the Opposition said.
“Shivaji maharaj statue was made and installed to give inspiration but it collapsed within eight months after its unveiling by PM Modi. This is an insult to Maharashtra and its people,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said that instead of iron, stainless steel should have used for the statue and that would have averted the collapse. Gandhi said th prime minister has not apologised for the “anti-farmer laws” which were later withdrawn due to protests, and demanded that Modi apologise for demonetisation and the “wrong” Goods and Services Tax.
He said Maharashtra has always been a progressive state, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Dr BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule showed the progressive path from which everyone draws inspiration.
“The ideology of these towering personalities is the same as that of the Congress. Maharashtra has the foundation and DNA of Congress ideology. Today’s politics is a fight between two ideologies,” he said.
‘Fight over ideologies’
Gandhi said Maharashtra has always been a progressive state, and many showed the progressive path from which one draws inspiration. Today’s politics is a fight between two ideologies, he added.
