Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai unveiled a 36-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji atop the historical Rajahansgad fort, 20km from Belagavi city on Thurs - day, and later announced a Rs 5 crore grant for “the overall development of the fort”. But the event was surrounded by controversy as Congress boycotted the event, saying the government had hijacked its event. Local MLA, Laxmi Hebbalkar of Congress, now plans to organise another programme around the statue on March 5. On Wednesday, Hebbalkar had said: “It’s a shame that BJP is holding a programme for work which I did, citing protocol.”
