Proposal to remove Konddeo statue okayed

The proposal was pending since 2006 and various maratha organisations led by Shiv Premi Janjagran samiti repeatedly taking to the streets on the issue while few organisations led by Lal Mahal Utsav Samiti opposing the removal of statue from Lal Mahal.

After the demand of removal in August,mayor Mohansingh Rajpal assurance of accepting the demand in 24 hours had led to protest by Lal Mahal Utsav Samiti.

A few agitators had thrown black ink on the mayor.

The political parties unanimously decided to constitute a committee to study the proposal and make recommendations to the civic body.

When the proposal for setting up expert committee came for discussion in the general body on Thursday,Congress corporator Deepak Mankar proposed the saying that the statue of Konddeo be relocated and that a statue of Shivaji be installed at Lal Mahal.

The ammendment sparked a debate on the issue as Shiv Sena,BJP and MNS opposed the ammendment.

“The ruling alliance should not make it a political issue and should not disturb the statue placed in Lal Mahal as it was installed by the PMC after a dicussion,” said Shiv Sena leader Shyam Deshpande.

BJP leader Mukta Tilak said that there was no need for the PMC to bend to demand of few organisations that were trying to create rift in the society.

NCP leader Anil Bhosale alleged that the saffron alliance of more interested in bringing politics on the issue rather than resolving it amicably.

Earlier,Mankar said there was no need for keeping the statue of Konddeo at Lal Mahal as there was no such reference on his contribution as a ‘tutor’ to the Maratha warrior.The demand of saffron alliance to retain the statue of Konddeo at Lal Mahal while installing the statue of Shahaji maharaj was turned down by the general body.

Rs 3 cr for Shivaji statue at NDA

Earlier,all the political parties scrambled to take credit for making financial allocation for errecting a statue of Shivaji at the National Defence Academy. The Shiv Sena alleged that the administration was purposely delaying the project while the NCP-Congress said the project could move forward only after sufficient funding made by them for the project. The standing committee today passed a resolution to allot Rs 3 crore for the project and the administration assured that the work would begin in around 15 days’ time.