Shivaji Statue

Police have arrested a fabricator of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that recently collapsed at a fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, triggering a huge political row, an official said on Friday. Fabricator Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, had used substandard material while shaping the 35-foot-tall statue of the Maratha warrior king, he said. A resident of Mirzapur in UP, Yadav was taken into custody on Thursday after his role in the statue collapse came to light, the official said. Yadav had been tasked with creating the Shivaji statue by welding separate parts, he said. Police said the fabricator used inferior material to form the structure and did not join the parts properly through welding. During a technical analysis, it was found that the collapsed steel statue had rusted in some places, indicating the use of low-quality material, he said. After his role in the case was established, Yadav was also made an accused and was ...

In the wake of collapse of the Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg, the Maharashtra government has issued a tender for the construction of a new 60-foot-tall statue there, nearly twice the size of the previous one, officials said on Wednesday. The statue will be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore and the government has set a six-month timeframe for the completion of the work, they said. A 35-foot-tall statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds. The statue's sculptor, Jaydeep Apte, was later arrested. The government has faced flak as the opposition parties alleged the decision to install the statue in Sindhudurg was taken haphazardly, which resulted in poor quality of work. Maharashtra Public Works Department (PWD) had flagged concerns over rust gathering on Shivaji Maharaj's statue and suggested permanent

A local court in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district on Thursday remanded sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil, held over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue, in police custody till September 10. While Patil was arrested on August 30 from Kolhapur, Apte was taken into custody on Wednesday night from Kalyan in Thane district, nearly 10 days after an FIR was registered in connection with the incident. A 35-foot statue of the iconic Maratha warrior king collapsed at the Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of the district on August 26, nearly nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it. Patil and Apte were produced before a court in Malvan where the police sought their custody for interrogation. The court remanded them in police custody till September 10. Apte's advocate Ganesh Sovani said the sculptor had intended to surrender on Wednesday night and that he was willing to cooperate with the probe. He is willing to submit to t

Sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte, wanted in connection with the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot fort last month, was arrested from Kalyan in Thane district on Wednesday night, a senior police official said. Sindhudurg police in Maharashtra were searching for Apte (24) since the statue made by him collapsed on August 26, less than nine months after it was inaugurated. Police had formed seven teams to look for him. After the statue collapsed, Malvan police registered a case against Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for negligence and other offences. Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week. The collapse of the statue of the iconic founder of the Maratha state has triggered a huge political row ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra with the Opposition targeting the Eknath Shinde-led government. Reacting to the development, BJP leader Pravin Darekar said, "Those who were critical of our government must shut their mouths now. It is true .

Amid the controversy surrounding the Shivaji statue collapse in Maharashtra, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari suggested using stainless steel for coastal roads

BJP leader and former Union minister Narayan Rane on Monday accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of creating a wedge in Maharashtra over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue ahead of the state assembly polls. The statue of the 17th century Maratha warrior king at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil fell on August 26, over eight months after it was unveiled by PM Modi on the occasion of Navy Day. Rane, a former chief minister, also accused Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut of inciting tensions over the issue. Dubbing the incident as unfortunate, Rane said, "The three parties (Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP)) are working to create a wedge in the state over the collapse of the statue ahead of the state polls." The MVA had held a protest march from Hutatma Chowk to Gateway of India on Sunday to protest the episode. Opposition leaders who took part in the march slammed the Union and state governments over the statue crash, with Thackeray dismissing Modi's apology .

Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday held a march from the iconic Hutatma Chowk to Gateway of India in south Mumbai to protest against the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district. The statue of the 17th century Maratha warrior king at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil, some 480 kilometres from here, fell on August 26. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023, on the occasion of Navy Day. NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Congress state unit chief Nana Patole and the party's Mumbai head Varsha Gaikwad began the protest march by laying wreaths at Hutatma Chowk, a memorial to those martyred in the 'Samyukta Maharashtra' agitation. The protest march is to give voice to the anger of the people of Maharashtra over the statue collapsing just eight months after it was unveiled by the PM, said NCP (SP) leader Rajesh Tope and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Prabhu. The .

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has said that simply apologising for the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will not suffice as the episode has "hurt the pride of Maharashtra". He made the remarks on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologised to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and those hurt by the collapse of the warrior king's statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district. The statue of the 17th century Maratha warrior king at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil, which fell on August 26, was unveiled by the PM on December 4, 2023, on the occasion of Navy Day. During his address in Palghar on Friday, PM Modi said, "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name or a king. For us, he is our deity. Today, I bow my head at his feet and apologise to my deity." Talking to reporters in Bhandara, Patole said, "What made him (PM) apologise ? It means he has acknowledged that he had made a mistake. When the statue was ready, as a prime ...

The opposition is only seeing the politics in the incident, they cannot see beyond the politics, says Fadnavis

The statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, located at the Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, came crashing down on Monday

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Friday targeted the Maharashtra government over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj's statue and asked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde whether a scientific study was carried out before deciding the specifics of the statue like its height. He also sought to know if a specific height of the statue was maintained to fulfil the political ambitions of someone. A political row has erupted after the 35-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, built at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of coastal Sindhudurg district, collapsed on August 26. The Maharashtra government has set up a technical committee comprising engineers, IIT experts and Navy officials to probe the reasons behind the statue collapse. Police have arrested Chetan Patil, the structural consultant named in the FIR along with artist Jaydeep Apte, from Kolhapur. Questioning the government over the issue, Danve, who is the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, said in a post on X,

Several posters demanding an apology from the Prime Minister were put up in various locations by the Congress

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday visited the Rajkot fort here where a 35-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed earlier this week and vowed to erect a grand structure of the warrior king at the same place. In a post on X, Pawar called Shivaji the pride and self-respect of Maharashtra. Very soon, a grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be installed at the same place. This is my word, Pawar said. On Wednesday, Pawar apologised to the people of the state for the collapse of the structure, which was installed in the coastal Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil, around 480km from Mumbai. On Thursday, his party NCP also staged a protest against the collapse of the statue. Amid relentless attacks by the opposition over the episode, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday asserted he would not hesitate to touch the feet of the warrior king 100 times and apologise for the incident if required. The government has set up a technical committee to

Chetan Patil, the structural consultant named in the FIR registered in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, has been arrested from Kolhapur, police said on Friday. Patil was taken into custody late on Thursday night and was handed over to the Sindhudurg police for further investigation, said Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pandit. According to the Sindhudurg police, Patil has been arrested in the case. Patil, a resident of Kolhapur, had claimed on Wednesday that he was not the structural consultant for the project. Speaking to the Marathi news channel ABP Majha, Patil, named in the FIR along with artist Jaydeep Apte, had said that he had submitted the design of the platform to the Indian Navy through the state's Public Works Department (PWD) but had nothing to do with the statue itself. A Thane-based company did the statue-related work. I was just asked to work on the platform on which the statue was

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is part of the Maharashtra government, on Thursday staged silent protests across the state over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj's statue and demanded action against those responsible, while the party's state chief asserted that everyone has the right to agitate. The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg's Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incident has snowballed into a major political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government over it. The opposition leaders on Wednesday announced that on September 1, the MVA will take out a protest march in Mumbai against the statue collapse, while the ruling NCP also said it would stage silent protests in every district and tehsil of the state on Thursday and demand the installation of a stronger and larger statue o

Navy said in a statement that it remains committed to assisting in all measures to repair, restore and reinstate the statue

The statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, located at the Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg, came crashing down on Monday, after just months of being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

A statue of Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, collapsed on Monday, an official said. Following the incident, the opposition parties have slammed the state government, alleging it had paid little attention to the quality of work. A 35-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed around 1 pm at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, the official said. Experts will ascertain the exact cause of the collapse, but the district has witnessed heavy rains and gusty winds in the last two to three days, he said. Senior officials of the police and district administration reached the site to take stock of the situation, and the damage is being examined, he said. PM Modi unveiled the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He also participated in the celebrations at the fort. NCP (SP) state president and former minister Jayant Patil said, "The state government is responsible for the ...

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday arrived in Mauritius, where he will unveil the statue of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. During his visit, Fadnavis will also meet representatives of various Mauritian companies in an event organised by Mauritius India Business Community, an official statement said. The deputy chief minister will attend an event with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth to sign tourism-related agreements. As per the statement, Fadnavis and Jugnauth will attend a cultural event organised by the Maharashtrian community in the island country during the day and unveil a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. On Saturday, he will interact with members of the Maharashtrian community, it said, adding that he will also call on Mauritian President Prithvirajsing Roopun.

On April 3, 1680, Shivaji Bhonsle, also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji, passed away at the age of 50 because of a fever