Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the inauguration of the first phase of Shivsrushti in Pune on Sunday. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis also attended the event. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)
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Shivaji’s descendants Sambhajiraje, Udayanraje missing from city event
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EVEN AS Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the first phase of Shivsrushti, a historical theme park on the life and times of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Narhe-Ambegaon on Sunday, Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati and Udayanraje Bhosale, who are descendants of the Maratha warrior king, were missing from the event.
While BJP MP Udayanraje was invited for the event, Sambhajiraje was not invited. Udayanraje’s cousin, BJP MLA Shivendraraje Bhosale, was present.
The Shivsrushti project was conceptualised by historian Babasaheb Purandare and is being developed by Maharaja Shivchatrapati Pratishthan.
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When contacted, Jagdish Kadam, chief trustee of the Pratishthan, said, “We had invited Udayanraje and he had promised to come. In fact, he had sought some VVIP passes for his associates, which we had provided. We don’t know why he didn’t come for the event.” Kadam said Sambhajiraje was not invited as only a limited number of people could be accommodated on the stage due to protocol issues.
Santosh Shinde, Pune unit chief of Sambhhaji Brigade, which has consistent opposed Purandare and his writings on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, said,”We welcome the decision of Sambhajiraje and Udayanraje to stay away from the event. The Sambhaji Brigade has been protesting against the wrong history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that is being depicted by Babasaheb Purandare. BJP has kept the Kothrud Shivsrushti project pending and has gone ahead with this one. We protest this move…”.
Dhananjay Jadhav, who heads the Pune unit of Swarajya Sanghatana —an organisation founded by Sambhajiraje —said, “We have no clue why Sambhajiraje was not invited…”. Sambhajiraje has been leading the reservation agitation for the Maratha community.
Meanwhile, Sambhajiraje on Sunday led a protest of Shivbhakts at Shivneri fort. Speaking to mediapersons, Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati claimed that police had stopped ‘Shivbhakts’ from visiting the fort and instead given preference to the entry of VVIPs.
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“As I was heading to Shivneri fort on Sunday morning, several Shivbhakts told me that police were not allowing them to visit the fort. They said police cited overcrowding at the fort, which could lead to a stampede, as the reason. I protest against this kind of discrimination against Shivbhakts.”
Later, while addressing a gathering at Shivneri, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said he has taken note of Sambhajiraje’s comments and will ensure that from next year, Shivbhakts do not face such problems.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
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