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Farmers make Shivaji's descendant 'king' of Maharashtra

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Maharashtra state was given away to the 13th descendant of Maratha warrior king Shivaji, Udayanraje Bhosale on Tuesday at a specially organised coronation ceremony. The well-attended ceremony where he was anointed monarch of Maharashtra was organised by Shramjeevi Sanghatna an organisation working for farmers' rights to protest against violation of the Constitution by the state government because of which 35,000 acres of land in Solapur, Satara and Raigad is illegally vested with Udayanraje.

Activist Vivek Pandit of the Shramjeevi Sanghatana told DNA, "If the state feels so emasculated in upholding the Constitution and protecting poor farmers then we feel there is no alternative. Anyway Shivaji Maharaj is revered as king by the entire state, so we decided to create a land revenue record (7/12 extract) and hand over the state to Udayanraje Bhosale his descendant."

The problem traces its roots back to 1960 when the Bhosale family wrote a emotionally charged letter on 18/8/1960 speaking of the bad times they had fallen on. "We are finding it difficult to even pay our clerical staff," said the letter pleading for their lands to be left out of the purview of government control under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act 1948. The government gave in and got an amendment passed to the effect on 2/6/1962. But a rider was added that this will be in effect only till the then monarch Pratapsingh Maharaj (Udayanraje's father) was alive.

"When he died 16 years later this amendment lapsed but the government not only did not take any action but agreed on 28/6/1980 to let the 1962 amendments remain in place till Udayanraje lives." This effectively translated into 20,000 farmers remaining under the feudal mercy of the Bhosales. Despite tilling the land for generations, 35,000 acres in Satara (CM Prithviraj Chavan's district), Solapur and Raigad continued to remain under the royal family's control. They live under fear of being ousted as Udayanraje who then went on to become the revenue minister in the state went on to stamp the 7/12 extracts as the royal holder of the lands with his title, 'Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale.'

"As an MLA whenever I've raised this in the assembly, the government has shied from taking a stand. They have no answers as to how the amendments hold good when all titles, privileges and privy purses were withdrawn by the late Indira Gandhi's government in a Constitutional amendment in 1971," points out Pandit who adds, "The state says there's a letter from the President of India recommending this but when I asked for it, I was told it was destroyed in the Mantralaya fire."

Pandit says he's baffled the state government thinks the President can rewrite the Constitution. "While the letter is traced, and the government seeks legal advice 30,000 farmers lives are in the hands of Udayanraje Bhosale," he says and adds,"Since the government is trusting him with so much, we thought who needs the government and decided to hand over the entire state to him."

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