Contractor Arrested in Shivaji Statue Collapse; Controversy Deepens as Congress Links Sculptor to RSS

Shivaji Statue Collapse Sparks Arrest and Political Fallout: Congress Links Sculptor to RSS, Fuels Protests and Criticism

The incident of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue falling in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra has claimed the arrest of Chetan Patil a structural consultant at Kolhapur. Taken into custody late Thursday night, Patil was later on being handed over to Kolhapur Sindhudurg police for further questioning as per Supol Mahendra Pandit. Even though he was named in the FIR, Patil argued that his involvement was only to design the platform that was tendered to the Indian Navy through the Maharashtra PWD. He added that the company which was involved in the construction of the statue was from Thane.

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, which was installed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg last December, fell on Monday embarrassing the Eknath Shinde-headed Maharashtra government. The Congress among other opposition parties has taken advantage of the incident to poke the government to extinction. State Congress chief Nana Patole said that the sculptor who in charge of the statue had links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which added fire to the incident. The artist made the remarks in reaction to comments the state cultural affairs minister made earlier which claimed the sculptor had connections with the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

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While the Congress accused the government of being responsible for the incident, it has dubbed the act as an “insult on the spirit” of the Maratha warrior king. On the other hand, the Maharashtra Navnirman Chavan alias Ajit Pawar led NCP also held protests in all over Maharashtra demanding the authorities to initiate action against the culprits behind the collapse of the statue. The state government funded it and the Indian Navy, involved in the conceptualization of the project, said that the navy coordinated the installation.

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