Shivaji statue row: Shiv Sena MPs demand Karnataka CM's resignation

The Shiv Sena MPs in the Lok Sabha on Monday protested against the recent desecration of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Bengaluru and demanded the resignation of the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The Shiv Sena MPs from Maharashtra trooped into the well of the Lok Sabha soon after the House assembled for the day and the proceedings of the Question Hour commenced. They raised slogans condemning the desecration of the statue of the 17th-century founder of the Maratha Empire and criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party’s government in Karnataka.

Some miscreants smeared black ink on the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at Bashyam Circle in Sadashivnagar in Bengaluru last Friday. Police till Sunday arrested seven people suspected to be involved in defacing the statue.

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The Shiv Sena’s protest in the Lok Sabha against the desecration of the statue came after Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra also strongly reacted to the incident in neighbouring Karnataka.

The Shiv Sena supremo and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, stated that the Union Government must take cognisance of the issue and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene to stop “atrocities” on Marathi people of Karnataka.

Thackeray also stated that Modi should ask Bommai to take action against the miscreants.

Arvind Sawant and the other Shiv Sena MPs on Monday trooped into the well of the Lok Sabha, protesting against the incident. They held up placards, demanding the resignation of Bommai as Chief Minister of Karnataka. They joined the MPs of other opposition parties who were also in the well of the Lok Sabha, protesting on other issues.