How the collapse of the Shivaji statue has shaken Maharashtra politics

Opposition parties seize on the incident to criticise the government, while ruling coalition leaders offer bizarre explanations.

Malwan: A Shivaji statue inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, collapsed on August 26, 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI

When the statue of King Shivaji collapsed within eight months after it was unveiled in Maharashtra by the Prime Minister, the political wrangling began. The politics underlines the fact that it was not just a statue that fell, it reflects the fraying fabric of a State.

On December 4, 2023, Narendra Modi visited Malwan city in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, where the Indian Navy celebrated its Navy Day. He spoke endlessly about the Maratha empire’s founder. Shivaji is inextricably linked to identity in Maharashtra. The statue reportedly cost Maharashtra government Rs.2.36 crore and it was installed by the Navy.

On August 26, 2024, when the statue fell, videos and photos went viral. Shivaji’s followers were livid. The State and Centre came under fire. Understanding the gravity of the situation, two ministers from the State cabinet, Ravindra Chavan and Deepak Kesarkar rushed to the location. Chavan is the guardian minister of Sindhudurg as well as the Minister for the Public Works Department. The Department had given the tender to the artist Jaydeep Apte.

As people started researching about the artist Apte, they found that he is inexperienced in building a statue of 25 feet. In an interview with a Marathi newspaper, just after Modi unveiled the statue, Apte said that he had no experience and had been making statues of two to four feet. So how did such an ill-experienced artist bag the tender? The buzz is that Apte is close to some of the right-wing organisations from Kalyan City. Chavan is from the Kalyan Dombivali municipal council area. The questions of favouritism are now being raised.

Apte said that he made this statue within a record time of a few months. The haste is being linked to Modi’s attempt to cover the ground ahead of the election.

The opposition slammed the governments for being corrupt, insensitive, and negligent on such an important issue. Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the opposition alliance, demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The statements from the ruling side were bizarre, to say the least. Shinde, while condemning the falling of the statue, said, “The district collector has told me that there was a high-speed wind of 45 km/hr when the statue fell.” But in the coastal Konkan area, a wind speed of 45 km/hr wind is not considered high speed. Shivanand Bhanuse, the spokesperson of Sambhaji Brigade, an organisation of mainly Maratha community youth, told Frontline, “Shinde’s statement is a joke. This kind of wind speed is very normal. Instead of giving such reasons, he should have apologised.”

Not just Shinde, his cabinet colleague and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also made bizarre claims. He said, “An artist and Navy could not have anticipated the speed and the saltiness of winds in the coastal area.” Fadnavis was called out by the Congress leader Satej Patil for this statement. “We expect better answers from Devendra Fadnavis. Do not undermine the Navy for your faults. We are confident of the Navy’s work quality. It is your government who has messed up things,” said Patil.

Deepak Kesarkar, who is Minister for Primary Education and also chief spokesperson for Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena said, “This has happened because there must be something good coming up. We will build a 100-foot-tall statue in the same place.” This was criticised by everyone. Ulka Mahajan, State co-ordinator of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, a civil society political initiative said, “The entire government has lost all sensitivity. They just think in numbers. You could not raise a 30-foot statue, why are you talking about a 100-ft one? To be more corrupt in the next tender?”

The only leader from the ruling side, who understood the gravity of the situation, and took a sensible stand was Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar. He publicly apologised for the incident and said that in the coming days, these shortcomings will be fulfilled with a new and strong statue raised at the same location. “I apologised for the unfortunate incident to all the people of Maharashtra. The mistake will be rectified very soon and all the culprits will face the punishment,” reads Shelar’s statement.

Meanwhile, it has also come to the fore that the PWD’s local assistant engineer wrote to the Navy in the third week of August, telling them about the dilapidated condition of the statue and the urgent need to repair it. The statue was in possession of the Indian Navy. Also, the State government has announced the forming of a technical committee with the Navy to assess the reasons of the collapse. The artist and the consultant of the statue are booked under attempt to murder. Both are absconding.

The Maharashtra Assembly election is around the corner. As ruling leaders make controversial statements, the Opposition MVA has sensed the political opportunity and gave a call for a ‘Malwan Bandh’ on August 28. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Jayant Patil led the rally in Malwan. To oppose them, BJP’s local leadership also hit the streets. To make it a Statewide movement, the MVA has also given a call to ‘throw the shoes protest’ on September 1 and 2. It shows the matter is not going to rest for a while. 

Shivaji built the Sea Fort Sindhudurg in 1667. It is still standing in the middle of the sea, despite many storms and monsoon. People across the caste and the religious beliefs worship him.