Shivaji statue collapse: Fadnavis spreading fake narratives, says Khera
Pawan Khera said on Sunday that the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district has broken the hearts of people in the country who draw inspiration from the legendary warrior king. Addressing a press conference here, Khera accused Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of spreading fake narratives over the incident.
«The Mughals did not succeed in breaking Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. But this corrupt government has done what Mughals could never do,» he said.
Hitting out at Fadnavis for claiming that late prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had shown Shivaji Maharaj in a «poor light» in his book 'The Discovery of India', Khera said the BJP leader should stop spreading fake narratives.
«Fadnavis should answer when he read the book. Nehru had revised his first edition and written to historians in 1936 to send him inputs to make necessary revisions. He was an intellectual giant and had accepted that the first edition was written while he was in jail and had no access to reference material,» Khera said.
Just like Lord Ram belongs to all, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj belongs to the entire country, the Congress leader said.
Khera said famous artist Nanasaheb Karmakar took seven years to make a sculpture of Shivaji Maharaj and Nehru conferred Padma Shri on him for his work.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's apology over the incident, Khera said, «The country rejects PM's apology which has been made arrogantly. We want to know what action has been taken against
