Fadnavis criticised the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance for its protests against the collapse of Maratha empire founder’s statue in Sindhudurg by calling it “completely political”. He demanded that the Congress should apologise for what he described as repeated insults to Shivaji Maharaj.
“This agitation is completely political. Be it Maha Vikas Aghadi or Congress party, they never respected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Nehru ji insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in The Discovery of India. Will Congress and MVA apologise for it? In Madhya Pradesh, the then CM Kamal Nath demolished the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with a bulldozer,” Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis claimed that the Maratha king never looted Surat, but it was a fake narrative set by the Congress to show him in poor light. “After Independence, the Congress deliberately taught us that Shivaji Maharaj looted Surat. But he just plundered the treasury from the rightful people for ‘Swarajya’ or attacked them there. However, Congress taught us the history in such a way that showed Shivaji Maharaj went to Surat to loot common people,” he said.
His comments evoked a strong response from the opposition who accused the BJP leader of distorting the history and belittling Shivaji Maharaj’s bravery. They also alleged Fadnavis’ remarks showed his ‘love for Gujarat.’
NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said on X, “Shivaji Maharaj looted Surat not once, but twice. It is like questioning Maharaj’s bravery. It is an unforgivable crime. Fadnavis saheb, why did you insult Maharaj?”
NCP MP Amol Kolhe also accused Fadnavis of distorting the history. “The history needs to be told again,” he said.
According to textbook history, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had attacked and looted Surat, which was Mughal’s major port and prosperous city then, twice to humiliate the Mughal power and its emperor Aurangzeb. The Maratha king looted Surat first in 1664 and later in 1670.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that it seems Devendra Fadnavis has not fully read Pandit Nehru’s ‘Discovery of India’. Hitting out at Fadnavis for claiming that Nehru had shown Shivaji Maharaj in a “poor light” in his book, Khera said, “While in jail, Nehru couldn’t access references. So in 1936, to make corrections for the next edition, he wrote letters to P.R. Devgirikar and Shriprakash on May 3,1936 requesting references, which were then incorporated into the subsequent edition. Fadnavis should answer when he read the book. Nehru had revised his first edition.”
