Narayan Rane says warrior king Shivaji Maharaj looted Surat

Union Cabinet Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane. (PTI Photo)

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party and Union Cabinet Minister Narayan Rane on Monday claimed that revered Maratha warrior Shivaji Maharaj did indeed “loot Surat”.

“I am not a historian. But from whatever I have read, heard, and known from historian Babasaheb Purandare, ‘Shivaji Maharaj ni Surat la loot keli’ (Shivaji Maharaj had looted Surat),” Rane said responding to a question while addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The remark came just a day after Deputy Chief Minister and another BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis accused Congress of spreading false propaganda around Shivaji and claimed he “never looted Surat”.

“Post-Independence, Congress deliberately taught that Shivaji looted Surat. Whereas, the correct position is Shivaji plundered the treasury from the rightful people for ‘swarajya’ or attacked them for the larger welfare of the nation,” Fadnavis said on Sunday.

The development comes amid an intense war of words between the Opposition and the ruling alliance in Maharashtra over the collapse of the Shivaji statue at Malvan in Sindhudurg district of the state. Both sides have accused each other of distorting facts about the warrior king.

During his interaction with the media, Rane came down heavily on the Congress and other Opposition parties including the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress for politicising the statue collapse.

“The opposition was politicising the Shivaji statue collapse keeping elections in mind which was unfortunate. A senior leader of Sharad Pawar’s stature should have come out and appealed for peace. But it is evident that opposition is trying to use the incident to vitiate the atmosphere,” Ranes said.

Rane also took strong exception to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s remarks asking Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to leave the country.

“What right does he have to make such a remark? Is he the president of India or PM. Had I been the CM, I would have ensured stern action against Thackeray.”

Earlier, Rane had said that he has asked his son Nitesh to refrain from his attack on Muslims. Rane Jr has been booked on charges of hate speech over his remarks at two public meetings in Ahmednagar district.