The Shiv Sena on Monday asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to declare that the statue of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj planned off the Mumbai coast will be the tallest in the world.
The party also asked Mr. Fadnavis not to be “scared” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in declaring this, and added that having Shivaji’s statue taller than that of Sardar Patel will not diminish the Iron Man’s prestige.
The Sena said NCP’s State unit chief Jayant Patil has claimed that the height of Shivaji’s statue has been decreased to ensure that the Statue of Unity in the Narmada district of Gujarat remains the tallest.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana , it said Mr. Fadnavis should use the same courage that he displayed in announcing quota for the Maratha community, and not be “scared” of Prime Minister Modi and Shah over the issue of Shivaji statue’s height.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party reminded Mr. Fadnavis that in the Jawaharlal Nehru government, then Union finance minister Chintamanrao Deshmukh had shown courage to tender his resignation, to ensure Mumbai stayed with Maharashtra.
The party rued that while the ‘Statue of Unity’ has already been unveiled and opened for public viewing, not a single brick has been laid for the construction of Shivaji’s statue.
Doubts are now being raised on whether there was an internal conspiracy to make Shivaji’s statue seem like a dwarf in comparison to the structure dedicated to Sardar Patel, it said.
Shivaji’s statue should be larger than that of any other leader and all parties should come together for it, said the Sena, BJP’s ally at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
Prime Minister Modi had on October 31 inaugurated the imposing 182-metre statue of Sardar Patel, the first home minister of independent India, in Gujarat’s Narmada district.
BJP-backed MLC Vinayak Mete, who is chairman of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial Committee, said on Monday the total height of the statue, including the pedestal, would be 212 metres. The height of the statue and pedestal would be in the 60:40 ratio, he added.
