‘Devendra Fadnavis govt protects those who insult Shivaji’: Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal strongly criticised the state government, alleging that the Devendra Fadnavis administration protects those who insult Shivaji Bhosale.

He asked how Nagpur-based journalist Prashant Koratkar, who was given police protection despite insulting Shivaji, managed to escape. Sapkal suggested that Koratkar had close ties with IPS officers and the state home minister (CM Fadnavis), raising suspicions that the police deliberately allowed him to flee. "What was the government doing while Koratkar was escaping? Was the home department asleep?"

Koratkar was booked on February 26 for allegedly threatening Kolhapur-based historian Indrajeet Sawant and making derogatory comments against Shivaji and his warrior-son Sambhaji.

Speaking to the media in Pune, Sapkal pointed out that actor Rahul Solapurkar, who lives in Pune, too made offensive remarks about Shivaji. Despite this, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said that no criminal case was filed against him, he said.

Sapkal highlighted multiple law and order failures in the state. He raised the issue of rape at Swargate Bus Stand, the brutal murder of a sarpanch in Beed, a custodial death of a youth in Parbhani, an assault on a central minister’s worker in Pune, harassment of another central minister’s daughter in Jalgaon, forcing the minister to personally visit the police station to file a complaint. "The police force has lost all its control and authority. The state’s law and order have collapsed, and Devendra Fadnavis is running a dictatorial administration," Sapkal said.

He recalled how, when he compared Fadnavis’s governance to that of Aurangzeb, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde demanded an apology and even called for sedition charges against him. "I stand by my words. There is no question of apologising. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar assured an inquiry, but why are both deputy CMs silent about Rahul Solapurkar’s statements? When will action be taken against Prashant Koratkar," he asked.

He further raised concerns about Pune’s growing drug trade. "Students from across the state come to Pune for education, but drugs are being openly sold here. The connection between Pune and the drugs arriving from Gujarat’s Kandla port must be investigated. The public is now questioning whether Maharashtra’s home department is being run like 'Ghashiram Kotwal'. The state needs a full-time, capable home minister," he said.

Sapkal also pointed out the selective nature of police action: "While those making offensive remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are not punished, issues like Aurangzeb’s tomb are being dug up for political mileage. Threats are being made to demolish the tomb. But if Aurangzeb was cruel, so were the British. They orchestrated the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and executed revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, and yet their collaborators in India continued to enjoy pensions. Will the VHP and Bajrang Dal now demolish their statues and memorials too?"