KPCC's Satish Jarkiholi hits out at Maharashtra leaders over Shivaji statue row

KPCC Working President Satish Jarkiholi said that the issue of removing the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Mangutti village in Hukkeri taluk has been blown out of proportion by the political leadership from Maharashtra.

Jarkiholi said that the warrior king wasn’t the property of copyright of the neighbouring state as Karnataka has more statues of the king in the state at different places installed by our money and Maharashtra hasn’t contributed a penny.

Jarkiholi told reporters here on Monday that the locals from Mangutti who had installed the statue have themselves removed it and have assured to solve the local issue between them and outsiders should not interfere in it.

Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi and other officials held a meeting in the village and they agreed to resolve the issue locally in the coming days. It’s a purely one village-level issue that has been blown out of proportion by political leaders in Maharashtra, he said.

"The previous year, we installed a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that cost Rs 50 lakh at Kadoli village near here and none from Maharashtra contributed for it. We have many statues of the warrior king in the boundary areas of the state, most of the districts and even in Bengaluru. All have been installed from our funds. There was no need for us to get lessons from Maharashtra regarding the respect to be given to the warrior king and he was national hero," Jarkiholi stated.

It’s a fashion in Kolhapur in Maharashtra to pelt stones over issues pertaining to Karnataka like the recent issue or other issues, he added.