Congress slams Maharashtra CM Fadnavis over posters featuring Shivaji Maharaj pasted at train station with filth around

Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal accused the ruling BJP of insulting Maharashtra's deity Shivaji Maharaj "for the sake of publicity".

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress on Wednesday alleged that posters showing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paying floral tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj were pasted at a Mumbai railway station with filth around, calling it an insult of the Maratha warrior king.

The party's state unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the posters featuring Shivaji Maharaj were pasted in unhygienic surroundings near the Prabhadevi station.

He accused the ruling BJP of insulting Maharashtra's deity Shivaji Maharaj "for the sake of publicity".

"People are spitting around these posters. What kind of behaviour is this in Maharashtra? Who gave Fadnavis the right to defile Shivaji Maharaj's image by putting up posters in such places? This is nothing but greed for publicity," Sapkal said in a statement posted on his X handle.

He also alleged that given the "consistent and deliberate insults to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by RSS-BJP leaders in the past, the possibility of this being done intentionally cannot be ruled out." "Placing Shivaji Maharaj's image near piles of garbage is an insult to the entire state. Maharashtra will never tolerate this. People will teach Fadnavis a lesson for misusing the legendary warrior king's image to cling to power," he said.