5 years ago,a statue solution was proposed but not passed

In 2005,five years before the PMC general body passed a proposal to remove Dadoji Konddeos statue from the composite sculpture at Lal Mahal,a workable solution had apparently come up: erect a statue of Shahaji Raje,Chhatrapati Shivajis father,without touching the existing structure.

In 2005,five years before the PMC general body passed a proposal to remove Dadoji Konddeos statue from the composite sculpture at Lal Mahal,a workable solution had apparently come up: erect a statue of Shahaji Raje,Chhatrapati Shivajis father,without touching the existing structure.

It was,however,a solution politicians did not want to push as it would have put a curtain on the debate,say experts and the sculptor.

The composite sculpture,made by Kolhapur-based Sanjay Tadsarkar and installed in 2000,showed Dadoji Konddeo,the tutor of Chhatrapati Shivaji,Jijamata and a young Shivaji holding a plough. In 2004,American author James Laines Shivaji: Hindu King In Islamic India triggered a controversy that led to vandalism of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune by the Sambhaji Brigade.

Historian Ninad Bedekar said,In 2005,there was a proposal to erect Shahaji Rajes statue adjacent to the statue of Jijamata in the composite sculpture without removing Dadoji Konddeos statue. But now no one wants a solution; (everyone) just wants to keep the issue burning for political benefits.

Sandeep Khandve,executive engineer with the PMCs building construction department,said,I have no information about such a proposal as I was not holding the post then. We will have to see if such a proposal had come up and check if it was just a proposal or was passed later.

An expert committee was formed for the erection of the composite statue around 1997 by the PMC. Tadsarkar says,The expert committee that the PMC had set up said they wanted us to work in metal. After making the drawings,we built a wax model for approval. This work order was given around 1997-98.

Asked about the current controversy on removal of part of the sculpture,Tadsarkar said,Removal of the statue destroyed the beauty of the sculpture aesthetically. It is painful. There should be an expert committee to deliberate on the issue before such a step is taken. The addition of a Shahaji Raje statue would have solved everything.

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5 years ago,a statue solution was proposed but not passed

In 2005,five years before the PMC general body passed a proposal to remove Dadoji Konddeos statue from the composite sculpture at Lal Mahal,a workable solution had apparently come up: erect a statue of Shahaji Raje,Chhatrapati Shivajis father,without touching the existing structure.

5 years ago,a statue solution was proposed but not passed

In 2005,five years before the PMC general body passed a proposal to remove Dadoji Konddeos statue from the composite sculpture at Lal Mahal,a workable solution had apparently come up: erect a statue of Shahaji Raje,Chhatrapati Shivajis father,without touching the existing structure.