Author: FPJ News Service
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: April 29, 2003
Parliament was bathed in the saffron
hues. Amidst the blowing of the trumpets,. Shehanai renting the summer
evening mixed with fragrance of roses and lilies the grand statue of Shivaji
riding the horse finally arrived in Parliament.
Hundreds of leaders and members
of parliament from Maharashtra thronged the premises of Parliament from
Maharashtra thronged the premises sporting saffron turban assembled in
Parliament precincts as President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam unveiled the 18 foot-high
statue of great warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji, riding high on the horse armed
with sword and installation of Shivaji statue turned a nostalgic event,
as political leaders breaking the ideological barriers shared the dais
on the occasion.
From Prime Minister Vajpayee, his
Deputy Advani down to the Shiv Sena MPs everybody was wearing a saffron
turban to mark the occasion. It was not a political function of any
one party. But scores of MPs and MLAs of Shivsena swooped Parliament
raising the slogans "Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji".
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sushilkumar
Shinde, former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister
Chhagan Bhujbal were all there. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was seen
engaged in talks with Nationalist congress party (NCP) Sharad Pawar as
they stepped on the dais during the unveiling of the statue.
Najma Heptullah (Dy Chairman of
the Rajya Sabha) brought cheers to the sainiks as she agreed to sport the
saffron turban. Making a style statement. Soon Minister of Parliamentary
Affairs Sushma Swaraj and others followed.
The Congress leaders were quick
to point out how the idea of installation of Shivaji statue was first mooted
by them. It was Congress regime that pressed for the Shivaji statue
in Parliament during Vilasrao Deshmukh's regime as the Chief Minister.
With Manohar Joshi (Sena) speaker
of the Lok Sabha taking charge of the function, the Shiv Sena obviously
came to the forefront on Monday. The Sena also made it sure Uddhav
Thackeray (acting president of Shiv Sena) attended the function as a special
guest.
Unlike the controversy that marred
the unveiling of Veer Savarkar's portrait, Shivaji was acceptable to all
political parties and leaders, from BJP, Congress, RPI, NCP leaders and
MPs all assembled to make the event a memorable one.
After Shivaji, it's now Mahatma
Jyotiba Phule's statue awaiting the installation in Parliament. The
sculptor Ram Sutar who made the magnificent statue was felicitated on the
occasion by the President of India.
