Mangal Prabhat Lodha of the BJP compared Shivaji’s escape from Agra while being imprisoned by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, to Eknath Shinde’s rebellion from the Shiv Sena and his ‘escape’ along with his MLAs, to Guwahati.
Lodha’s comments equating Shivaji’s escape from Aurangzeb to Shinde ‘escaping’ with his 40 MLAs to Guwahati, led to an uproar in the state which has been already simmering over the comments made by Koshyari who called Shivaji an ‘old icon’. He had said that there were newer icons/heroes like Babasaheb Ambedkar and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Koshyari’s comment had led to opposition parties demanding that Koshyari be removed from the Governor’s post.
Lodha’s comments angered many, especially as it was made during the ‘Shiv Pratap’ day function organised by Maharashtra at the Pratapgadh fort to honour the day when Shivaji had killed Mughal Afzal Khan, a Mughal General.
Maharashtra Opposition leader Ajit Pawar said, “We have kept saying to put a stop to people who keep mouthing off words without thinking. But it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. How to talk on the stage, how can you compare Shivaji with anyone else? They don’t have the sense or sensibility to speak but still continue to mouth off words.”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav group) leader Aaditya Thackeray also slammed Lodha’s comments and said that this was part of a ‘planned’ campaign. “There seems to be a single-point programme by this government to defame Shivaji. I don’t think the comments are out of turn. Earlier, the governor said a similar thing and now the minister says the same. This is an insult on Maharashtra.”
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