Congress leader K C Venugopal.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg and asked whether he will apologise to the Maratha empire founder for putting his own personal ambitions above the Maharaj's legacy.
The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Modi on December 4 last year, collapsed on August 26 afternoon.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal said those who stood against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's values of swarajya, farmers’ welfare, utmost integrity and inclusion of the backwards and neglected can never be expected to respect his legacy and heritage.
"In true Modi fashion, the priority was to hurriedly construct a statue on 3 months’ notice, so that it is inaugurated by the PM just before elections. What’s more, this shoddy work cost Rs. 236 crores! Will PM Modi apologise to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for putting his own personal ambitions above Maharaj’s legacy?" Venugopal said on X.
"Will the PM come clean on the rampant corruption that we saw in the hasty inauguration spree that we saw prior to the 2024 elections?" he asked.
Venugopal claimed that everything inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi and the BJP for election purposes is now crumbling.
"Here are just some examples of infrastructure that the BJP launched in haste, only for them to collapse soon after: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Statue at Sindhudurg Fort: Inauguration: December 2023, Collapse: August 2024; Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link: Inauguration: January 2024, cracks appear: June 2024; Mumbai Coastal Road: Inauguration: March 2024, Leakage: May 2024; Jabalpur Airport: Inauguration: March 2024, roof collapse: June 2024; Sudarshan Setu Bridge (Gujarat): Inauguration: February 2024, potholes appear: July 2024," he said.
The statue collapse incident has snowballed into a political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra and seeking Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's resignation.