Meanwhile, amidst the continuing furore over the fall of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he would "bow before the feet of the Maratha warrior and apologise a hundred times".
This comes after the apology for the statue collapse made by the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar during his ongoing 'Jansanman Yatra'.
Shinde appealed to the Opposition not to politicize the issue but join hands with the government for accelerating the work on erecting a tall and graceful statue at the earliest.
"There are a lot of issues to be politicised. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is our collective identity and he is our inspiration, too. Please do not make this an issue of politics. I am ready to seek apology for a hundred times by falling at his feet. We are trying to handle the state affairs on the inspiration from him," Shinde said.
He further pleaded that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj must give wisdom to those critics also so that they do not imbibe politics in this matter.
Shinde said the Indian Navy has in writing asked for declaring the Rajkot Fort area as a protected zone for the building of a new statue.
"We had a meeting on Wednesday night and set up two committees for the statue installation. One will study the reasons behind the collapse and would suggest responsibility fixation measures. The other will comprise sculptors who have experience in preparing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statues, besides engineers and Navy officers to monitor the construction of the new grand statue," he said.
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