Under the initiative of BJP leader and former legislator Yogesh Tilekar, the civic body Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed to install a 13-feet-tall equestrian statue of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, being donated by a city-based social organisation, on Katraj-Kondhwa road at Kondhwa Budhruk in Maharashtra’s Pune. In a proposal tabled in the city improvement committee Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar has stated that the PMC received a communication from Tilekar that Shree Bhairavnath Gramvikas Mandal will be donating the bronze statue of the king. The plan is to install the statue on the 84-metre wide Katraj-Kondhwa road near the RMD school in Kondhwa Budhruk. As per government rules, it is necessary to seek the permission of the civic general body for installing the statue in its jurisdiction. The civic administration is also seeking the opinion of all departments concerned for the purpose, it said. As per procedures, once it gets the nod of the general body, the city improvement committee needs to give permission to the civic administration to take possession of the statue from the organisation and install it Katraj-Kondhwa road. Incidentally, the proposal has come up at a time when the BJP is facing the wrath of Opposition parties and various Maratha organisations over the controversial remarks of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari against the Maratha warrior. Various organisations in the city on Tuesday gave a call for bandh demanding the ouster of Koshyari from the post of Governor and took out a silent march in which BJP Rajya Sabha MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who is also a descendant of the Maratha king, participated. Bhosale had sought disciplinary action against the Governor and other BJP leaders for making controversial statements about the king. Koshyari courted controversy following his remarks that Samarth Ramdas was the ‘guru’ of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is revered by all the communities across the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation main building. The 9.5-feet tall statue is made up of 1,850 kg of gunmetal. There are multiple locations in the city, including Kothrud, Katraj Lake, SSPMS ground in Shivajinagar where there are statues of the Maratha king. In the past few years, a lot of murals portraying the incidents related to the life of Shivaji have been installed across the city using civic funds.
