Pune civic body to remove Lal Mahal Dadoji Konddev statue

The general body of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday passed the resolution to remove the statue of Dadoji Konddev, referred to as the Brahmin tutor and mentor of Chhatrapati Shivaji, from the historic Lal Mahal.

It also decided to erect the Shivaji’s father Shahaji’s statue in the Lal Mahal.

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) opposed the move, while the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress party supported the move. The resolution was passed by 54 against 37 votes.

All parties voted in favour of erecting Shahaji’s statue in the Lal Mahal.

The development is part of an intense drive undertaken by Maratha organisations to downplay the role of Konddev in the life of Shivaji, ever since American scholar James W Laine wrote his book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India in 2003.

The book sparked a controversy over the references to Konddev’s relationship with Shivaji.

While the Sambhaji Brigade attacked and vandalised the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Bori) in Pune for having assisted Laine in his research, a demand was also made to remove Konddev’s statue from the Lal Mahal and his name as Shivaji’s teacher from history textbooks.

Pune Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal had made the announcement on August 26 to remove the statue of Konddev from Lal Mahal, after the agitators had undertaken a sit-in protest demanding the removal of the statue.