MP: Kamal Nath unveils Shivaji's statue in Pandhurna

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Friday unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in district headquarters of Pandhurna in Madhya Pradesh.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra minister Aditya Thakre was present on the occasion.

The newly formed district of Pandhurna has been carved out of Chhindwara district, considered Mr Nath’s political turf.

The district borders Maharashtra and has a sizable Maharashtrian population.

Mr Nath had represented Chhindwara parliamentary constituency nine times earlier before winning the polls from Sauser seat under the Lok Sabha constituency, in the last assembly elections.

 Chhindwara LS constituency and all the assembly seats under it are currently held by Congress.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Nath said that he has a long association with Thakre family and their bond is old.

Mr Nath recounted how he was asked by late Sanjay Gandhi to meet Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thakre to seek his support for the then government at the Centre (over imposition of emergency).

According to him, the Shiv Sena supremo had backed the Congress on the issue then.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Thakre said that he wanted to see Mr Nath back as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.

He slammed the Centre for having failed to check inflation and called Maharashtra chief minister as ‘illegal chief minister’.

In his post in X (formerly Twitter), Mr Thakre said, “The equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji was unveiled at Pandhurna, Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh by former chief minister Kamal Nath”.

In the post, he said that there was an atmosphere of change in Madhya Pradesh.

Interestingly, the unveiling of Shivaji statue in Pandhurna by Mr Nath has triggered a political row here with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan terming it ‘double standards’ by the Congress leader.

Mr Chouhan said that Mr Nath was earlier opposed to the installation of Shivaji statue in Sauser, currently represented by the latter.

“I wanted to build a statue of Shivaji in Sauser earlier. But, Mr Nath had then opposed the move. By unveiling the statue today, Mr Nath has demonstrated his double standard. He shows a fake face, hides his real face”, Mr Chouhan said.