Shivaji statue collapse drives a wedge among Mahayuti partners

Mumbai: The clashes at the site of the collapsed Chhatrapati Shivaji statue and the aggressive conduct of its MP Narayan Rane and his son Nilesh Rane with opposition party workers, police and the media has not gone down well with the BJP leadership in Maharashtra. The party’s embarrassment doubled when its ally, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, staged protests across the state on Thursday to condemn the collapse of the statue.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has reportedly expressed his unhappiness at the way the entire issue played out, and it is expected to be discussed in the core committee meeting of the state unit to be held late on Thursday.
According to party insiders, the BJP has received a setback because of Rane’s and Nilesh’s uncouth conduct with leaders and workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday. “Rane was seen threatening opposition party workers by telling them he would pull them out from their homes and beat them up,” said a senior party leader. “He also tried to manhandle a media person for shooting him abusing the opposition workers. His son went a step ahead and misbehaved with the police officers who were trying to break up the fight. The viral videos of the Ranes have embarrassed the party, especially the disrespect shown to the police. The opposition has targeted the BJP and home minister Devendra Fadnavis on this, and Fadnavis is unhappy about it.”
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Thursday staged silent protests against the statue collapse with senior party leaders at various places in the state. “Ajit also scored over the other two ruling parties to be the first to apologise for the collapse,” said the leader. “His apology came when chief minister Eknath Shinde and Fadnavis were blaming others and appealing to the opposition to not politicise the issue. Pawar’s move forced Shinde to apologise on Thursday.” The leader said that the NCP’s protest against the collapse of the statue has sent out a message that the ruling combine is sorely divided on the statue issue.
“By standing apart from his party’s allies on the issue, Ajit Pawar has tried to distance himself from the statue collapse issue, in the process shifting the onus to the other two ruling parties,” continued the BJP leader. “In the Badlapur sexual abuse case too, the other two parties were held responsible. This is disturbing.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut hit out at Fadnavis for his failure to protect the police force. “The BJP’s goons were responsible for the clash at Rajkot,” he said. “They stopped just short of attacking the police. As the home minister, Fadnavis should feel ashamed. He has failed to protect the police and safeguard their respect.”
Another BJP leader said that the Shivaji statue issue and the clashes on Wednesday could cost the BJP dear in the forthcoming assembly polls. BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye, however, denied that the party had any issues. “What the Ranes did was a natural reaction to the opposition’s bid to politicise the issue,” he said. Had the opposition not done this, the clashes could have been avoided. It is also not true that we are unhappy because of Ajit Pawar’s protest.”