Overview
- The statue, installed at Maharashtra Samaj Bhavan Road in Sector 21, depicts Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on horseback and drew senior BJP leaders and a large public turnout.
- Shah highlighted Shivaji’s resolve at age 16 to pursue Hindavi Swaraj at Pune’s Rayeshwar temple, crediting Jijabai’s influence and portraying Shivaji as freeing the region from long subjugation.
- He linked Shivaji’s defense and restoration of temples to recent efforts such as the Ram Mandir consecration in Ayodhya, the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, and work at Somnath.
- Pointing to institutional symbolism, Shah cited the replacement of the Indian Navy’s St George’s Cross with a design featuring the Shiv Mudrika under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Shah, the MP for Gandhinagar, also dedicated a mobile blood collection van for GMERS Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad and chaired a national meeting of state Cooperation Ministers the same day.