Twitter
Advertisement

Supriya Sule's May letter congratulating Babasaheb Purandare for award nomination deflates NCP stand

Sule had in fact congratulated Purandare way back on May 2 for being nominated for the award.

Latest News
article-main
Supriya Sule disagrees with dad Sharad Pawar on award to Purandare
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The controversy over state's highest honour — Maharashtra Bhushan — being conferred on historian Babasaheb Purandare refuses to die down.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which had criticised the state government's decision of conferring the award on Purandare on various grounds — ranging from his credibility as a historian to his caste — is now finding itself in a spot. It has emerged that party supremo Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule were not on the same page on this issue.

Sule had in fact congratulated Purandare way back on May 2 for being nominated for the award.

In a letter written to Purandare in Marathi (a copy of which is with dna), Sule had not only congratulated him for being nominated for the award, but also lauded his literary work on Shivaji and his famous play Janata Raja, which has had 1,000 shows.

"I congratulate you for being nominated by the Maharashtra government for the Maharashtra Bhushan award. You have dedicated all your life to depict the story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by writing books, and through lectures and theatre. You recreated the period of Shivaji through your work," reads the letter, besides listing other awards Purandare has received.

Sule's letter, which is in stark contrast with the party's stand and even her father's views on Purandare, highlighting the differences within the party on crucial issues.

Pawar had remarked last week that "Purandare is not a historian", which intensified the opposition by the Sambhaji Brigade and a few Maratha groups protesting against awarding Purandare. Driving the protests was Sule's own party leader Jitendra Awhad, who alleged that Purandare had distorted history and painted a picture of Shivaji which fits into right-wing ideology. Awhad has claimed that Purandare gave Brahmins credit for the success of Shivaji and projected Shivaji as anti-Muslim.

NCP MP from Satara Udayanraje Bhosle, who is a descendant of King Shivaji, too had asked the state government on Monday to stay the award function until the allegations against Purandare were verified.

While Sule didn't respond to calls and messages, party spokesperson and senior leader Nawab Malik termed it as her "personal view".

"We never opposed government's decision of selecting Purandare. Pawar saheb had just said that Purandare was not a historian but added that it was purely the government's prerogative to select the person it wanted to honour," claimed Malik.

The BJP government, soon after coming to power, had decided to bestow the Maharashtra Bhushan award on Purandare.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement