Historian Balkawde points to irony of the statue removal situation

Pune based historian, Pandurang Balkawde, on Monday said that the presence of Dadoji Konddev in the composite sculpture at Lal Mahal in Pune was not only logical, but was inevitable as he was the person who initiated agricultural cultivation in Pune with a golden plough.

Balkawde told DNA on Monday that the composite sculpture at the historic Lal Mahal was installed after the advice of the expert committee appointed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which had passed a unanimous resolution to commission and install the sculpture. 

Balkawde pointed out that all political parties in the PMC had unanimously resolved to set up this composite structure, adding that none other than Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj had inaugurated it.

He pointed out that Konddev was the person who was appointed by none other than Shahaji Maharaj, father of Chhatrapati Shivaji, to look after Pune.

Balkawde said the presence of Konddev in the composite sculpture was justified for several reasons. He was the person to initiate agricultural ploughing, to instill confidence among Puneites.

According to Balkawde, Konddev was the person who not only built barrages across rivers in Pune but also set right the revenue administration of farmers in the region. 

He said that biggest paradox in shifting Konddev’s statue from the composite structure was that it was Dadoji who had built Lal Mahal as residence for Jijabai, the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Shivaji Maharaj.