'BJP insults Shivaji Maharaj': Thackeray faction attacks Shinde too

Mumbai: Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde for the removal of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for calling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj an "old idol".

Raut demanded Shinde to show "self-respect", while asking him to step down as Chief Minister and accusing the Maharashtra government of keeping "silence "on the issue.

In a bid to corner the Maharashtra government, Raut expanded that the Governor insulted Shivaji Maharaj four times over the year.

He added that PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah consider Shivaji Maharaj their idol, but their spokesperson said Maharaj had appologised to Aurangzeb five times.

Turning the business-end of attack on the chief minister, Raut asked if Shinde still had the touted self-respect as he had claimed.

On Friday, Raut targeted Rahul Gandhi for his remark on Veer Savarkar when he was touring the state as part of Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was speaking at Speaking at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad, when he called Shivaji Maharaj an "old idol", adding that the new ones could be found in from Babasaheb Ambedkar to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The Governor's remarks on the Maratha ruler irked several politicians in the state.

Anand Dubey, a spokesman of the Uddhav Thackeray faction said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will always be the idol for all of the party.

Dubey wondered if Lord Ram and Lord Krishna had become old idols going by the Governor's statement.