As South Mumbai MP Arvind Sawant pushed for a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the occasion of Shiv Jayanti on Monday and questioned its absence, a life-size statue of the 17th-century warrior is lying locked in a shed at Wadi Bunder near Sandhurst Road.

Sawant was at CSMT to attend a Shiv Jayanti function when he criticised the Maharashtra government. “The absence of a statue at CSMT reflects badly on the government, which seems to have no self-respect. The Union government installed a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Kevadiya railway station and adorned its walls with murals of Patel. We are proud of that. But here, despite the station being named after Chhatrapati Shivaji, his statue is still missing. The government has been ignoring this. All parties should unite and pass a resolution in the Maharashtra legislature to install a life-size statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in front of CSMT,” Sawant said.