Pune: The head of Bageshwar Dham, Dheerendra Shastri, made a statement about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at an event in Nagpur on Friday that was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The remark has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition.
State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal on Saturday said the chief minister should have objected to the statement made in his presence and initiated legal action against Shastri.
Responding to the controversy, Fadnavis told reporters in Nashik that Shastri's statement was not backed by historical evidence. He said, "We have folklores on historic personalities. Such folk tales are cited in different states as well. There are folklores about Ramayana and Mahabharata as well."
During his speech at the Nagpur event, Shastri claimed that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had once requested Samartha Ramdas Swami to take charge of the kingdom. After the statement surfaced on social media, the opposition targeted the BJP and RSS, as the comment was made in the presence of Fadnavis and Bhagwat.
State Congress chief Sapkal said, "We protest Shastri's baseless statements. We equally criticise those who remained silent despite being present at the event. Their silence shows that BJP and RSS support the statement against Shivaji Maharaj."
NCP (SP), the Congress's ally in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), also criticised Shastri's statement. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar noted that in the past, Shastri had made controversial statements against Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar. "After noticing such statements against Maharashtra's icons, it creates a doubt if there is any single point agenda of some people to reduce the importance of Maharashtra's personalities by insulting them," he said.
"What is more disappointing is that such an insulting statement was made in the presence of ministers from Maharashtra. The government should ban such people from entering the state. However, we cannot expect such actions from the current dispensation," Rohit added.
The controversy has intensified political heat in Maharashtra, with opposition parties demanding action against Shastri and questioning the silence of BJP and RSS leaders at the event.
