The Opposition BJP found itself in the dock on Wednesday, as the ruling NCP leader Dhananjay Munde demanded an enquiry into the alleged irregularities into the Rs 3,700 crore mid-sea Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial project.
Participating in a debate on the Governor’s address to the joint session of Maharashtra Legislature at the ongoing winter session in Napgur, Munde alleged, “The previous BJP Government that came to power invoking Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji’s name had the project had launched the mid-sea Shivaji memorial through a Jal Puja at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Devendra Fadnavis Government committed irregularities in the tendering process of the project”.
“Since its Government committed sin, the BJP has now been kept out of power. We demand a full-fledged inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the tendering process of mid-sea Shivaji Memorial project,” Munde said.
Munde rooted for an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the tendering process of the Shivaji memorial project, when he was responding to the remarks made by former chief minister and the current leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
Among other things, Fadnavis compared that the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (AVA) Government to a three-wheeled autorichskaw and said that it would not last long. On his part, Munde hit back, saying that the MVA government would not last for one full term, but it would last for three full three terms. “ You will have to wait for not just five years but at least 15 years before you can hope to return to the power in the State”.
Munde’s demand for an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the tendering process of the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial project should be seen in the context of the fact that the Devendra Fadnavis Government had on March 1, 2018 handed over the “Letter of Acceptance” (LoA) to the infrastructure major L & T and gave a go-ahead to the latter for the start of construction.
At that time, Fadnavis had made the announcement through a tweet: “Historic day it is! 15 long years’ wait is over!! We handed over the ‘Letter of Acceptance’ to L&T for the grand memorial
of our Great King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea, at Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai”.
“Maharashtra and our Nation have waited for 15 long years for this monument of pride for every Indian. Gave directions to start the actual work before monsoon. It is our Government that took every permission for this grand memorial in a record time,” the then Chief Minister had said in another tweet.
The proposed Shivaji memorial — 212 metres in height which includes a 123.2-m statue standing atop an 88.8-m pedestal — was a flagship project of the previous BJP-led Government.
The equestrian statue of the great Maratha warrior king will come up on a rocky islet around 3.5 km from the Marine Drive in south Mumbai.
The memorial will — apart from the statue of Shivaji — house an open-air theatre, a library and a museum showcasing the Maratha warrior’s life. Besides, the memorial will have a viewing gallery akin to the one at Statue of Liberty in New York harbour. It will have a landscaped garden that can accommodate 3,000 people at a time.
In 2017, L&T was shortlisted for Rs 3,826 crore after the consortium of Reliance Infrastructure and Afcons quoted an estimate of Rs 4,779 crore for the project. The project was estimated to cost around Rs 3,826 crore, but now official sources said there has been “a further revision in the cost”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed Jal Puja for the mid-sea Shivaji memorial project on December 24, 2016, ahead of the crucial February 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.