Marathas want Shivaji statue in Raigad

Mumbai, October 28

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Long festering differences between various bodies representing the powerful Maratha community in Maharashtra have come to the fore over Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj off Mumbai.

After one person was drowned to death earlier this week as a speedboat carrying mediapersons and political activists hit a partly-submerged rock, several Maratha organisations have distanced themselves from the proposal to raise the statue in the sea. Organisations such as the Maratha Seva Sangh and Sambhaji Brigade, that have been in the forefront of protests for reservation for the community in educational institutions and government jobs, say the statue can be built inland.

“Please build a statue for Shivaji in Raigad district so that people do not die while trying to see it,” Praveen Gaikwad, state president of Sambhaji Brigade, remarked at an event. — TNS