Amid continued protests by the Opposition Maha Vikass Aghadi (MVA) over the sudden collapse of a 35-feet tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Malvan Sindhudurg district, the Indian Navy and Maharashtra Government on Thursday announced the formation of a joint technical committee comprising Naval officials, civil engineers and experts, to investigate the cause of the statue collapse and fix responsibility for the mishap.

To be headed by the Indian Navy, the technical committee will comprise representatives from the Maharashtra government, civil engineers and experts, including the ones from the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT), Bombay, JJ School of Art and renowned sculptors from across the state.

Apart from into the cause and circumstances leading to the collapse of the imposing Shivaji Statue inside Rajkot at Malvan in Maharashtra’s Sindhudrug district, the technical committee will also fix responsibility for 

The decision to constitute a technical committee to investigate the Shivaji statue collapse follows a joint meeting that chief minister Eknath Shinde held with the senior Naval officials, his senior ministers, bureaucrats at his official residence “Varsha” in South Mumbai on Wednesday night.

In a statement issued by the state government, Shinde said that he had asked the State Piblic Works Department (PWD) to set up a committee comprising the nation’s best sculptors; civil engineers, expert officers and Navy officers for constructing a grand and magnificent statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that portrays his achievements in a best way.

“The collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is unfortunate and the feelings and emotions of the Maratha warrior  and Shiv Bhakts are intense. Due care should be taken by all of us so as to ensure against recurrence of such type of incidents in the future,” Shinde said. .

In a separate statement issued earlier in the day, the Indian Navy was committed to assisting in all measures to repair, restore, and reinstate the statue at the earliest.

“The Statue was unveiled on December 4, 2023 as part of the Navy Day celebrations conducted, for the first time, in Sindhudurg, aimed at honouring the legacy of the Maratha Navy and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj towards maritime defence and security, and its historical linkage with the modern Indian Navy,” the Navy said in its statement”The project was conceptualised and steered by the Indian Navy, in coordination with state govt which also provided funding for it.The Indian Navy remains committed to assisting in all measures to repair, restore, and reinstate the statue at the earliest,” the statement added.

It may be recalled that the 35-feet tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with a sword in his hand at 12.30 pm on August 26, within nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023 as part of the Navy Day celebrations.

The collapse of Shivaji statue has triggered a major political uproar across the state, with the Opposition MVA staging protests across Maharashtra demanding the resignations of chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Ajit Pawar on Wednesday publicly apologised to the “13 crore people of Maharashtra” for the Shivaji statue collapse.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT), a constituent of the Opposition Shiv Sena, staged protests for the fourth consecutive day.  Shiv Sena (UBT)’s deputy leader and party spokesperson Sushma Andhare led the protest morcha in Pune on Thursday.

Talking to media persons, Andhare hit out at senior BJP leader and MP Narayan Rane for  resorting to “intimidation tactics” and handing threats to the media, police and the opposition leaders” when the MVA workers  staged a protest in Malvan on Malwan.

“The language used by Rane displayed his character… He was intimidating the media persons, the police and the Opposition leaders carrying out a peaceful protest at the Rajkot Fort. His sole intention is to spoil the communal atmosphere in the state and create disturbances,” Andhare said.

She questioned Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the ruling BJP if it was he who had asked Rane  and his cheap hoodlums to indulge in a ruckus ar Rajkot fort and quell any formsof public protests in Sindhudurg to create caste-communal divides in the state.

“If anything untoward happens, then it is only Fadnavis who will be responsible as the state home minister. We demand that Rane should be booked and arrested for disturbing peace and fomenting violence there,” Andhare said..

Rane’s supporters virtually clashed with the MVA workers at Malvan’s Malvan fort. So heated was the atmosphere at the Rajkot fort at Malvan that the workers of the  BJP and the rival MVA elbowed one another and shouted fierce slogans against each other. At one stage, Rane snatched the mic of a television journalist capturing the developments at Rajkot.

Andhare said that despite tough efforts by the Sindhudurg Police, Rane and his supporters proved to be uncontrollable as they staged a siege and prevented the MVA leaders like leaders of Opposition in the State Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, his counterpart from the  State Council Ambadas Danve, NCP (SP) state President Jayant Patil, SS (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray and others from entering the Rajkot Fort.