BJP's Rs 3,600 crore plan to woo Marathas

MUMBAI: The BJP-led state government's grand plans for the bhoomipujan ceremony of the Rs 3,600 crore Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial to be built on a rocky outcrop in the Arabian Sea are part of a concerted effort to pacify the Maratha community. The community, which has Shivaji as its icon, has held protest marches across the state to demand reservations.

The BJP has pulled out all stops to win over the community: it will determinedly publicize the inauguration function in all districts of the state and has urged people to turn up in large numbers in Mumbai to participate in the foundation stone-laying ceremony on Saturday .

The party has invited the descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Udayanraje Bhosale and Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati, for Saturday's event. They will be taken in a hovercraft along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to the site off the coast where the memorial is to come up and whe re Modi will do the bhoomipujan.

"Previous governments only made announcements, but we are fulfilling the dream of every person in the state. All the required permis sions have been received, and the first phase of the project will be completed by 2019," said Vinod Tawde, minister for culture who is overseeing arrangements



for Saturday's event. That day , the entire city will be decked up so that it resembles the culture and grandeur of the Maratha kingdom. For this, the state has roped in Bollywood set designer Nitin Chandrakant Desai. According to the presentation made by the state government to mediapersons on Thursday , a large tent has been erected for dignitaries to sit at Girgaum Chowpatty .To recreate the atmosphere of `Shivshahi,' volunteers dressed as footsoldiers of Shivaji will be stationed at various points across Marine Drive, and cultural performances will be held at five spots between Marine Drive and Worli Seaface.

To showcase the naval strength of Marathas, over 15 boats will be lined up in the Arabian Sea, with saffron flags. At the MMRDA grounds where Modi will address a rally , four stages are to be constructed, and all royal families from the state have been invited for the programme.

"The event has been planned as a befitting tribute to the legend that Shivaji Maharaj was," said Tawde.

Fadnavis had urged people from all 36 districts of the state to come to the city with water from various rivers and soil from forts for the stone-laying ceremony . He will host a special ceremony on Friday evening to felicitate people coming from across the state.