Maratha body calls for Jalna bandh on Dec 7 to protest Governor's remark on Chhatrapati Shivaji

The Maratha Kranti Morcha MKM on Wednesday gave a call for bandh in Jalna district of Maharashtra on December 7 to protest against state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyaris recent remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.The Congress and business community would support the bandh, the organisation said.The governor had recently raked up a controversy by labelling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as an icon of olden days.

The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) on Wednesday gave a call for 'bandh' in Jalna district of Maharashtra on December 7 to protest against state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's recent remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The Congress and business community would support the bandh, the organisation said.

The governor had recently raked up a controversy by labelling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as an icon of ''olden days''. MKM convener Dr Sanjay Lakhe Patil said, ''Governor Koshyari is supposed to be the guardian of the Constitution. But despite holding a respectable post, he is behaving and speaking in such a way that he is the spokesperson of a particular ideology.'' ''The governor's remarks against great personalities, including Maratha warrior king Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule are unacceptable for the people of Maharashtra and the country, '' he said. Lakhe Patil also hit out Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi's remarks on the Maratha king.

Congress MLA Kailash Gorantyal said the Congress and business community would support the bandh called by the MKM.

Condemning the governor's remarks, he demanded Koshyari's removal from the post. ''Unless the governor is recalled by the Centre, the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature would not be allowed to be run,'' he said. He also slammed state Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar over his remarks against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule. ''The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in the state has become arrogant. Everyone in its government thinks big and arrogant. If their arrogance is not stopped, the government would be in peril,'' he said. MKM is an umbrella body of all Maratha organisations in Maharashtra.