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Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a director descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, on Thursday slammed Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and his party colleague, fellow Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, for their allegedly objectionable remarks about the iconic 17th century king and demanded their removal from their respective posts.
Bhosale, a royal from Satara district, further said that Shivaji’s ideals and principles were essential in order to keep India and the world’s largest democracy united.
While the Governor is facing condemnation from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties for recently calling the 17th century Maratha king “an icon of olden times,” Sudhanshu Trivedi had remarked during a TV debate that Chhatrapati Shivaji had ‘apologised’ to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb no less than five times.
The BJP RS MP remarked, “Shivaji fought to liberate the people from the yoke of slavery by taking together people of all castes and religions. And he (Governor Koshyari) claims that his ideals are outmoded. He should be ashamed.”
Bhosale has written to both Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and PM Narendra Modi; further said he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu to discuss the issue.
He further took jibes at Union Minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on grounds that they ought to have objected to Governor Koshyari’s remarks during the event in Aurangabad on November 20 where both leaders were present.
During his speech at the Dr. Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad in the presence of Union Minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari on Saturday, Governor Koshyari had said that while Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an “icon for an earlier era”, Nitin Gadkari was an icon for the modern generation.
Udayanraje Bhosale further said, “Shivaji had conceptualized the idea of a modern India at that time while several great leaders of the Independence and social reformers’ struggle drew their inspiration from the Maratha warrior king. Be it Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Krantisinh Nana Patil or Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, they all drew inspiration from Shivaji… Shivaji respected women and people of all religions. There is so much to take from his life.”
Coming down heavily on the Governor, he said he failed to understand the basis of the Maharashtra governor’s statement. “I am not personally against Governor Koshyari, but against this mentality which insults Shivaji…this needs to be rooted out,” remarked Udayanraje Bhosale.
Hitting out at Sudhanshu Trivedi, the BJP RS MP Udayanraje Bhosale said that at a time when all rulers in the country had submitted tamely to the Mughal rule, only Chhatrapati Shivaji had the courage to take on the might of the Mughal Empire.
He further remarked, “When such kind of statements are made, are they not ashamed of themselves? Such statements make us angry…If Shivaji’s ideology is forgotten, then how much time it will take for the country to get divided into pieces? We have never seen God but Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is God’s incarnation. Bhosale warned that the people would not tolerate such insults if no action was taken against the Governor and Sudhanshu Trivedi very soon.
When questioned whether the BJP would condemn the Governor’s statements, Udayanraje Bhosale said that every political party in the State must clarify their stance on this issue.
“The Governor’s post is an important and respectable post… If he (Governor Koshyari) does not understand the gravity of its responsibility, then he does not have the right to sit on that chair,” further remarked the BJP RS MP.
This is not the first time Governor Koshyari – who has frequently been accused by the MVA as a partisan of the BJP – has courted controversy from his remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Earlier this year, the Governor was slammed by the MVA for allegedly mocking 19th century social reformers Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule for “getting married at a young age”. He also stoked controversy when he said Samarth Ramdas was Chhatrapati Shivaji’s ‘guru’ contrary to historical evidence.
