Sena (UBT) & Cong hold protests against Rajkot fort statue collapse

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress organised separate protests on Wednesday against the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Malvan three days ago.The statue was inaugurated merely eight months ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since its collapse on Monday, the Centre and state govt have come under severe criticism, with the opposition parties leaving no stone unturned to corner the govt on the issue.During his visit to Nanded, Maharashtra's leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said, "This was a 38-foot-high statue of Shivaji Maharaj that fell. Now, they are saying that they will construct a 100-foot statue. It is the result of the sins committed by the BJP-led NDA that the statue has collapsed."In the city, the Sena (UBT) led a protest at Kranti Chowk, condemning the incident as a symbol of current govt's failure. Party members cited a series of recent infrastructure failures as evidence of widespread corruption and incompetence in projects associated with central and state govts."Ram Temple has developed cracks, the Parliament building is leaking, and now even the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has collapsed. This is not just a coincidence. It points to a pattern of corruption and negligence by the current administration," former mayor Nandkumar Ghodele said during the demonstration.The Congress party, led by district president Shaikh Yusuf, also echoed these concerns in a separate protest, emphasising that the statue collapse was a significant disrespect to the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The party demanded an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident.