I apologise for Shivaji Statue collapse, will others do it for Savarkar, asks PM Modi

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday apologised for the collapse of the statue of Warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji earlier this week at the Malvan fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district.

"In 2013, when my party declared me as the prime ministerial candidate, the first thing I did was to visit the Raigad fort. I bowed my head in reverence before Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," Modi said while addressing a rally after laying the foundation stone for the Rs 76,000 crore Vadhvan port in Maharashtra's Palghar. "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name for me or for my colleagues; he is our deity. Whatever happened in Sindhudurg a few days back, I bow my head at the feet of my bellowed deity Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and apologise," he said.

"Our culture is different. We are not those people who keep abusing and insulting the great son of Mother India, the son of this land Veer Savarkar. They are not ready to apologise, they are ready to go to the courts and fight," the PM said.


While Modi did not name anyone, he was likely referring to Rahul Gandhi's comments on Savarkar for which the Hindutva ideologue's descendants have filed a case against the Congress leader.

The Vadhvan port is one of several big decisions that his government has made since coming to power in 2014, the PM said. "Vadhvan would be the biggest container port in India. It will also an important deep-water port in the world. Once built, this port would alone handle all the traffic being now handled by all the ports of the country. It will push Maharashtra and the country's progress to newer heights," the PM said.

India once was very prosperous and to a large extent it owed this prosperity to its sea trade. However, after Independence, India lost its edge as successive governments did not pay any attention to it, Modi said.

The Vadhvan port is one of a kind and the "world's eyes were on it", he said. "There are very few 20-metre-deep-water ports. Thousands of ships would come. This would bring financial change, we are going to connect it to rail and road, there would be warehousing, the location would be close to the western freight corridor and the Delhi Mumbai Expressway. Maharashtra is going to get a huge benefit from this project. Maharashtra's development is a huge priority for me," said Modi.

Vadhavan Port, a joint venture between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board, will feature 9 container terminals, 4 multipurpose berths, 4 liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth.

Only the Maha Yuti government could take the state to newer heights of progress, he said and read out the names of top female officers, from chief secretary Sujata Saunik to DGP Rashmi Shukla.