Sanjay Raut, a prominent member of the Shiv Sena faction headed by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, harshly criticised governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday for calling Chhatrapati Shivaji a “hero of the past era.”
“We are not ready to accept him as a governor. A governor is neutral and shows dignity in words and conduct, but our governor speaks on Chhatrapati Shivaji maharaj… he has made a mockery out of Maharashtra,” he said.
Following Koshyari’s remark on Shivaji on Saturday, the Rajya Sabha MP launched an attack. The Thackeray Sena and its allies in the former Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, responded angrily.
After days of criticising Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remark on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, the remark put the ruling BJP and its ally, the Sena group led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, under pressure.
When seeking to attack Gandhi, the BJP’s national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi appeared to score an own goal, forcing the party into further defensive manoeuvres. He was accused of treating Shivaji disrespectfully.
On Tuesday, Raut demanded the dismissal of Koshyari and the resignation of Shinde.
“I am surprised (by) the chief minister who gave the slogan of self-respect, broke Shiv Sena and formed the government with the BJP… where has your self-respect gone now? The BJP is openly insulting Shivaji maharaj. You should resign. If you have respect for Shivaji Maharaj, why are you in the government with them?” he declared.