Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Thursday said it was against
plans for shifting the statue of Dadoji Konddeo -- who
mentored Shivaji Maharaj during childhood -- from the historic
Lal Mahal in Pune.
"If you want to remove Dadoji`s statue, then replace it
with statues of Sharad Pawar and Suresh Kalmadi," Sena
executive president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters.
Terming the move as electoral politics, Uddhav said
Shivaji`s followers will not tolerate shifting the statue from
Lal Mahal, which was the residence of Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj.
The assurance to shift the statue was given by Pune mayor
Mohansingh Rajpal yesterday to protesting Lokshasan Andolan
members, led by former justices P B Sawant and B G Kolse
Patil.
The protesters had gheraoed the PMC headquarters in large
numbers for over five hours, demanding the removal of the
statue which is part of a sculpture depicting Chhatrapati
Shivaji, along with Jijamata, tilling the soil of Pune with a
golden plough.
Konddeo, according to some historians, guided Shivaji
during his childhood. However, some historians say that he was
not Shivaji`s teacher. The state government has stopped giving
awards in the name of Konddeo and his reference as guru of
Shivaji has been deleted from the textbook.
On the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row, Uddhav said
"those in BJP who love Marathi people should twist chief
minister Yeddyurappa`s tail and teach him a lesson."
PTI
