Picking inexperienced sculptor for Shivaji Maharaj statue job was a wrong call: Athawale

Mumbai, Sept 1 (PTI) Entrusting the construction of Shivaji Maharaj's statue to an inexperienced sculptor was a wrong call, Union minister and NDA ally Ramdas Athawale said on Sunday, days after the structure collapsed at Rajkot fort in the coastal Sindhudurg district.

After visiting the fort in Malvan taluka, the Minister of State for Social Justice demanded a detailed probe into the incident.

"There is no dearth of experienced sculptors; why the responsibility was given to a novice?" Athawale asked while speaking to reporters.

Stating that the incident was unforgivable, the RPI (A) chief said the concerned officials of the Public Works Department and the Navy should also be investigated.

He asked opposition parties not to politicise the statue incident given the apologies tendered by PM Narendra Modi and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde.

Athawale also appealed to the state government to rope in experts and opposition leaders to finalise the construction of a new statue of Shivaji Maharaj.

The statue of the 17th century Maratha warrior king unveiled by the prime minister at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil eight months ago fell on August 26, triggering huge outrage.

Modi apologised over the incident, saying Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name or a king but a deity.

Facing the Opposition backlash, the Maharashtra government set up a technical committee comprising engineers, IIT experts, and Navy officials to probe the reasons behind the collapse of the statue.

The government has also constituted a committee to build a “grand statue befitting the stature” of the warrior king, the Chief Minister's Office stated.

Police so far arrested Chetan Patil, the structural consultant named in the FIR, from Kolhapur. Sculptor Jaydeep Apte has not been traced. As per the FIR, the statue's construction was of poor quality, and the nuts and bolts used in the structure were found to be rusted. PTI MR NSK