Mumbai, Aug 28 (IANS): Amid raging controversy over the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue at Malvan in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday tendered an apology to the people of the state, saying those proven guilty of the statue crash will be punished.

Ajit Pawar, speaking during the Jan Sanman Yatra, said: "I apologise to the 13 crore people of Maharashtra. The collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue is quite shocking. The matter should be investigated. Whoever is guilty in this case, be it senior officials or junior officials... or the contractor, should be punished. That contractor should be blacklisted."

Meanwhile, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar also apologised on behalf of the state government, saying that the collapse of the statue was very unfortunate, painful, distressing and an infuriating incident.

"Although the government has presented its stance that this was an accident, still as a staunch believer and devotee of Chhatrapati Shivaji, I personally apologise on behalf of the government for this unfortunate incident. I will apologise even today. After thorough investigations, those proven guilty in this matter will be duly punished, the government will not spare anyone in this matter," he said.

He also took a swipe at the opposition parties, saying that those who are making accusations about this statue today never made any suggestions during or even after the statue was erected.

"Never did they point out any shortcomings from the government nor did they visit the place to pay their respect after the installation of the statue. But the moment this incident happened, all of them rushed to the spot like vultures to gain political mileage," he remarked.

"Uddhav Thackeray also behaves like a political vulture, waiting for accidents to happen. This is Uddhav Thackeray's Aurangzebi fan club. Today, those who are agitating against the collapse of statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are the ones who had asked for evidence from Maharaj's legal heirs and had insulted Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje of Kolhapur by denying him the candidature to the Rajya Sabha. This is their attitude -- their Aurangzebi fan club. Uddhav Thackeray has repeatedly insulted Maharashtra's symbols and its self-esteem," alleged Shelar.