Congress MP attacks BJP over Chhatrapati statue collapse in Maharashtra

New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over the collapse of a 28-foot tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, alleging corruption in the construction process.”If Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was our Prime Minister’s ideal, why was the statue constructed in such a shoddy manner,” Tiwari asked while speaking to IANS”The statue was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, not just Narendra Modi. But the Prime Minister’s intentions were not right because the statue he inaugurated involved corruption,” the Congress MP claimed.Incidentally, Prime Minister Modi on Friday tendered a public apology for the crash of the Chhatrapati’s statue. Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of the all-weather Vadhvan Port in Palghar district, the Prime Minister said, “For what has happened in Malvan (Sindhudurg), I bow my head and apologise to the people of Maharashtra and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We don’t use great men for politicking.”Commenting on the Prime Minister’s gesture, Tiwari said, “To whom are you apologising? To Chhatrapati’s supporters? If anyone was a big supporter of Chhatrapati, it was Bal Thackeray. But you even divided his family into two parts. Your motives were never right. You are as much to blame as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra (Eknath Shinde).”Tiwari also addressed the recent decisions made in the Assam Assembly, particularly the removal of the two-hour break on Fridays for Muslim members to offer namaz, and the passage of a Bill mandating the registration of all Muslim marriages and divorces in the state.Accusing the BJP, which is in power in Assam, of attempting to create a divide between Hindus and Muslims, Tiwari said, “BJP Chief Ministers have stooped to a new low. They have done nothing substantial for Hindus. An incomplete temple was inaugurated for which many questions were raised. But people have now realised that the inauguration was done just for the (Lok Sabha) elections. And now they are trying to harm Hindu sentiments.”Criticising the BJP’s approach, the Congress MP said, “How degrading is their