Congress’s tradition of disrespecting Maharashtra’s ideological heritage is old, says citizens

Mumbai: Congress has always had a disrespect to Maharashtra’s ideological heritage. As per political experts, the relationship between Maharashtra and Delhi remained strained until 2014, like oil and water. The rulers in the Delhi always looked down upon Maharashtra event throughout the periods of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the Peshwas, Yashwantrao Chavan, and Sharad Pawar. The rulers and leaders in New Delhi always tried to chain Maharashtra’s rulers, binding them to their control.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar provided deep ideological thoughts to the nation. However, whenever these thoughts contradicted the Congress party’s ideology or ecosystem, the Congress party, which ruled for seventy years, made every effort to suppress and crush them.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru  in his  book called ‘Discovery of India’ portrayed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as ‘a misguided patriot’.  The Congress party played a pivotal role in twice defeating Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of India’s constitution, in the Lok Sabha elections.

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Congress could never digest the personality and philosophy of Swatantryaveer Savarkar. As a result, disrespecting Savarkar became a key principle for Congress. Even today, leaders like Rahul Gandhi continue to demean Savarkar.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj symbolizes the pride of Maharashtra. Hence, Congress has consistently followed a policy of deliberately disrespecting this symbol. For instance, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh disgracefully removed a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In Karnataka’s Bagalkot, a similar statue was taken down by the state government, and Congress openly opposed the installation of a Shivaji statue in Mangaluru. Even when Karnataka Congress minister Satish Jarkiholi made derogatory remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Congress took no action against him.  A former Congress  chief minister of Maharashtra  once said Nehru was greater than Shivaji Maharaj.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad,who came from Congress, made highly offensive remarks against the descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, including Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje. When Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati demanded the removal of encroachments on Vishalgad fort, Awhad sided with the encroachers and questioned Sambhaji Raje’s legitimacy.

‘Sambhaji Raje’s blood should be tested. If Aurangzeb and Afzal Khan had not been there, how would Shivaji Maharaj’s legacy have been established?..  .. If Shivaji Maharaj is great, it is only because of Afzal Khan and Aurangzeb,’ said Jitendra Awhad.

Sharad Pawar, the supreme leader of the NCP, is known for his opposition to the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Pawar has rarely visited Raigad, and he once remarked, ‘There is no need to call Shivaji Maharaj the Janata Raja.’

Uddhav Thackeray, son Balasaheb Thackeray has also become subservient to Congress and its allies’ ideology. Sanjay Raut, a senior leader from Uddhav’s faction, recently heaped praise on Aurangzeb and the Mughals.

Furthermore, Congress and its allies vehemently opposed the renaming of Aurangabad and have even opposed the grand statue of Shivaji Maharaj being built in the Arabian Sea.