Collapse Of Shivaji Statue Sparks Political Row And Investigation Into Construction

The Statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, unveiled just eight months ago in a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has now fallen into pieces. The statue, funded by the Maharashtra government at a cost of 2.36 crore rupees and installed by the Indian Navy, has become the center of a political storm in an election year. The incident has sparked outrage, with Shiv Sena UBT MLA Vaibhav Naik accusing the local PWD office of corruption and vandalizing it. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has urged the opposition not to politicize the situation, attributing the collapse to environmental factors such as the region's high winds. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pointed out that older statues, including one built in 1930, have endured harsh weather conditions longer than this new statue. Chhatrapati Shivaji’s descendant and former MP Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati criticized the rushed construction and shared a letter on X to PM Modi outlining the issues. The Eknath Shinde government has launched an investigation into the matter, with contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil under scrutiny. Preliminary findings suggest that rust might have contributed to the statue’s collapse.