Mumbai/Thane. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde launched a scathing attack on his rival and predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of imitating the actions of Aurangzeb and Afzal Khan and doing politics in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He also called upon all political parties to support the state government in installing a new statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj instead of doing politics. Reacting to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) protest in Mumbai, Shinde accused the Opposition of doing politics over the fall of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Sindhudurg district.
Shinde said it was unfortunate that the opposition was playing politics despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and himself apologising for the “painful” incident. He said a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was uprooted using two JCBs in Congress-ruled Karnataka. Shinde said, “The people of Maharashtra had shown him (Thackeray) his place two years ago. You take the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, but your work is Aurangzebi and Afzal Khani.”
He said that the people of Maharashtra will teach the opposition a lesson. There was rivalry between Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and Shivaji and Aurangzeb had imprisoned him treacherously. Aurangzeb had also killed Shivaji’s son and successor Chhatrapati Sambhaji. Bijapur’s commander Afzal Khan was killed by Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji. Chief Minister Shinde said that the opposition is seeing its defeat because the Chief Minister Ladki Bahin Yojana has reached the beneficiaries in cities as well as villages.
Earlier in the day, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Thackeray led a march of MVA allies from south Mumbai’s iconic Hutatma Chowk to the Gateway of India to protest the fall of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Sindhudurg district. Speaking to reporters in Thane, Shinde called upon all political parties to support the government in building a new “huge and inspiring” statue of Shivaji Maharaj. “We give great respect to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as our deity. It (the collapse of the statue) was the most unfortunate incident. The government has started an inquiry and the culprits will not be spared,” he said.
