Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he bows his head and apologizes to the people of Maharashtra who were hurt by the collapse of the Shivaji statue in Sindhudurg.

While addressing a gathering in Malvan, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, the Prime Minister also criticized the opposition for not expressing regret, as he offered his own apologies for the incident.

“To those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologize to them. Our values are different. For us, nothing is greater than our deity,” PM Modi said.

A 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the state’s Sindhudurg district collapsed on August 26.

A 35-foot tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji a

The Prime Minister further targeted the opposition for “insulting and abusing the son of the land” Veer Savarkar while adding that his “values” are different.

Earlier, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the Vadhvan Port in Palghar, Maharashtra, a project estimated to cost around Rs 76,000 crores. During the event, he also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 218 fisheries projects valued at approximately Rs 1,560 crore.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the state government is making swift decisions for the reconstruction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue. Two committees have been formed, including one to investigate the statue’s collapse in the Malvan area.

(ANI)