Marathas want Shivaji statue at SVS and Belagavi railway station

BELAGAVI: The Maratha community of Belagavi wants a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji on the premises of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.
During the winter session in December, CM Basavaraj Bommai laid the foundation stone for the installation of the statue of Rani Channamma, Sangolli Rayanna and BR Ambedkar.
Marathas also launched a movement to include the picture of Shivaji on the premises of renovated Belagavi railway station, which is going to be inaugurated shortly.
The pictures of several stalwarts have been placed on the walls inside the railway station, but not Shivaji.
A couple of days ago, local MP Mangala Angadi met railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav and invited him for the opening of the station, which was a dream project of former minister of state for railways, the late Suresh Angadi.
On Sunday, during the Kshatriya Maratha convention in Gokak, KMF chairman and MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi assured the Maratha community about fulfilling their demand.
Balachandra said he will try his best to install the statue of Shivaji on the premises of SVS and his picture on the railway station walls.
Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) leader Vikas Kalaghatagi said it was unfortunate that the picture of Chhatrapati Shivaji was missing at railway station.
Belagavi is a fort of Marathi speaking people. Even the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre (MLIRC) housed in Belagavi follows the techniques of Shivaji, he said.
As the MES weakened over the last few years, the BJP and the Congress have tried to woo Marathi people towards them. For that, every leader is spending huge amounts of money for the installation of Shivaji statues.
Belagavi (rural) MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar is spending more than Rs 2 crore for the installation of a Shivaji statue at Rajhansgad fort. It is going to be inaugurated shortly.
More than Rs 10 crore has been spent by the Belagavi Urban Development Authority (BUDA) on Shiv-Charitra, a light and music show along with models and murals depicting the life history of Shivaji in Belagavi (South) constituency that is represented by MLA Abhay Patil. He has invited Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for the inauguration.
Many statues of Shivaji have been installed in the past few years in Yamakanmardi constituency represent by KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi and in Khanapur constituency, which represent by Dr Anjali Nimbalkar.
Ramakant Konduskar, the national president of Sri Ram Sena Hindustan, who has announced he is contesting from Belagavi (South) as an independent, has called upon the Maratha community to hoist the saffron flag atop every building on February 19, the occasion of birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji.