Mumbai: In the last 10 years and more, the Shivaji memorial, which had enjoyed front page prominence in the election manifesto of first the Congress, and then the combined manifesto of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was within two years hijacked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And that too to an extent that everyone started talking about it as a project by BJP and not even ally Shiv Sena. The Sena has also alleged that BJP has hijacked the idea.
The BJP has also made sure people realise that it is they who are constructing the Shivaji memorial. “For the last 15-years there was always an announcement regarding the memorial, but nothing happened, but I am proud it was Devendra Fadnavis, who followed it up and finally we have the memorial being inaugurated,” said Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
The first reference of Shivaji memorial came up in the manifesto of the Congress during the 2004 Assembly election, then again in the joint manifesto of the Congress and NCP during the 2009 assembly elections. However, the project had not seen any progress. Hence, just before the 2014 assembly polls, the then Congress-NCP government took a bunch of journalists and showed them a site where the statue would come up. They had even claimed tenders for the same would be floated. However, nothing happened, the Congress-NCP combine lost the polls and things came to a standstill. The BJP came to power in the Centre and state and went all out behind getting approvals for the memorial.
However, the NCP claims that while the BJP might have announced it, it will be NCP that will complete the project. “The BJP can never complete the project, it will be our government that will come in future and complete the Shivaji memorial,” said Udaypratap Singh, NCP Mumbai spokesperson.
Meanwhile Surendra Jondhale. political department head of Mumbai University, said,“It’s true most of the decisions were taken by the Congress-NCP and BJP by implementing them is trying to take credit for the same. I think it is a plain simple fact and we don’t need to read anything additional.”
