raigad fort hm minister amit shah visited Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj descendants Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati absent

Amit shah visits Raigad Fort Maharashtra: On Saturday (April 12) at the historic Raigad Fort in Maharashtra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Amit Shah) paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s 345th death anniversary. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were also present on the occasion. However, Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, disappeared from this program, causing a stir in the political corridors.

According to The Indian Express, Sambhajiraje is the chairman of the Raigad Development Authority, yet he was not invited to the program. The Congress strongly criticized the state and central government on this issue. Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “It is sad that Sambhajiraj was not invited to the Home Minister’s visit. This government is using Shivaji Maharaj’s name only for political gains.”

Sambhajiraje did not comment
Although Sambhajiraje refused to comment on this, one of his colleagues said, “The government and the organizers deliberately ignored him, perhaps because of his progressive ideas. They believe in taking all the communities along.”

Demand to remove the idol of Vagha Dog
Meanwhile, the demand to remove the statue of Waghya Dog is again gaining momentum. Sambhajiraje had demanded the removal of this statue last month and reiterated on Saturday that such a statue should not have any place near Shivaji Maharaj’s tomb. He said, “There is no evidence of the existence of a dog named Vaghya in history. This is just a fantasy, which was born in 1919 from Ram Ganesh Gadkari’s play ‘Rajsanyas’.”

He also said that this idol is higher than the idol of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which is very derogatory and should be removed as soon as possible. Chief Minister Fadnavis has assured to form a committee on this subject.

Waghya dog belonged to the British- Udayanraje Bhosle
Another descendant Udayanraje Bhosle also talked to reporters in Pune and demanded the removal of the idol and said, “This dog was the British, it has nothing to do with India.”

However, during his visit, Home Minister Amit Shah did not comment on the Vaghya Murthy dispute, which made Sambhajiraj disappointed.

In this controversy, Bhushansinharaje Holkar, a descendant of Ahilyabai Holkar, has also shown softening in his stand. He said that earlier he was against the removal of the idol because he had a misconception that the idol was being removed on 31 May – which is the birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar. But now they want a decision to be decided on the basis of historical facts and should not hurt anyone’s feelings.

This dispute of Raigad seems to be trapped in the triangle of emotions, history and politics.