Sharad Pawar blames corruption for collapse of Shivaji statue

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, 3 September alleged that "corruption" was the cause of the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg district last month.

Pawar was speaking at an event in Kagal in Kolhapur district where BJP leader Raje Samarjeet Ghatge joined NCP (SP).

"It was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who underlined the strategic importance of the sea, and built Sindhudurg and other sea forts. It was shocking to see that a statue, built only a few months ago and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, collapsed," the senior leader said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde attributed the incident to strong winds, Pawar noted.

"In Mumbai, at the Gateway of India, there is a statue of Shivaji Maharaj, installed by the state's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan sixty years ago, and that statue is still standing strong," he said.

The reason for the collapse was clearly corruption, the NCP(SP) chief claimed.

"Those in power today shamelessly engage in corruption, even in the construction of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue, and it is up to us to ensure they do not hold the reins of the state (again). We have decided to create leadership that is clean, virtuous and capable of safeguarding the interests of common people," he said.

Pawar welcomed Ghatge and his colleagues into the NCP (SP) fold, expressing confidence that the people of Kagal will elect Ghatge to the legislative assembly, indicating that Ghatge would be taking on local MLA and minister Hasan Mushrif, a leader of the Ajit Pawar-led rival NCP.

Without naming Mushrif, Pawar said people voted for him last time but he switched sides afterwards. Voters will teach him a lesson, the NCP(SP) chief added.