Nitin Gadkari’s ‘stainless steel’ remark on Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue gets Sharad Pawar’s pat

In what could spiral into a controversy, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday suggested that if stainless steel had been used for Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue, it would not have collapsed. Speaking at a Ficci event, Gadkari expressed frustration over previous experiences with construction materials, noting that while he had pushed for stainless steel in coastal areas, his earlier projects did not always adhere to this recommendation. He recounted an incident where iron rods were coated with powder to prevent rust, which ultimately proved ineffective.