Apologising to people on behalf of Maharashtra govt for Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse: BJP MLA

Mumbai: Under flak from the opposition, BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Tuesday said he was apologising to people on behalf of the Maharashtra government over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Sindhudurg district.

The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot Fort on December 4 last year, collapsed on Monday afternoon.

"The collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue is absolutely unfortunate, painful and distressing. We apologise to all the residents of Maharashtra on behalf of the government over this incident," Shelar, who heads the Mumbai BJP unit, told reporters.

He said the ongoing investigation will disclose the factors responsible for the collapse of the statue. This is a painful incident for all of us, said Shelar, an MLA from Mumbai.

He said a statue of revered Shivaji Maharaj will be erected again to retain our pride, self-respect, and Hindutva.

Following an outrage, the Sindhudurg police also registered a case against contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil, both involved in the project, over the statue collapse incident.