Days after the Maharashtra government announced Rs. 100 crore for the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Arabian Sea in the State budget, the Republican Party of India has raised a demand to build a sculpture of Babasaheb Ambedkar in the sea.
Rajya Sabha MP and RPI leader Ramdas Athawale presented a proposal to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday. The RPI is one of the partners in the BJP-led State and central governments.
“We have asked the CM to think over it. If it gets backing from him, then we can begin a search for the location,” he said after meeting Mr. Fadnavis.
As per the initial proposal, the statue can be built in the sea waters between Chaityabhoomi (where Ambedkar was cremated) and Indu Mills (the place which is soon to be turned in to a memorial dedicated to Ambedkar).
Incidentally, the stone laying ceremony of the memorial in Indu Mills was planned on April 14, 2015 at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, it has now been postponed till May as Mr. Modi will be on foreign trip in April.
Avinash Mahatekar, a senior RPI leader said that the central government is yet to present a bill handing over the land under Textile Ministry to the State. “It is also possible that the centre may decide to build a memorial on Indu Mills land on their own, instead of asking the State to build it,” said Mr. Mahatekar.
The RPI had earlier issued an ultimatum to the government to perform stone laying ceremony on April 14, 2015 and had threatened to carry out agitation across the state. It has now seem to have backtracked from the warning and has chosen to instead wait for the PM’s return from his foreign tour.
