Sambhaji Brigade, a prominent Maratha organisation, along with various other organisations and Opposition parties under the banner of “Sarvdharmiya Shivpremi Punekar” would hold a silent march as part of their call of Pune bandh on Tuesday against the alleged remarks of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari along with BJP leaders on Chhatrapati Shivaji that have triggered controversy in the last few weeks.
Last week, the bandh call was given by Sambhaji Brigade, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) after a meeting in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji statue on the ground of SSPMS in Shivajinagar. Many other organisations later extended their support to bandh and decided to participate in it.
In a statement, the Sarvdharmiya Shivpremi Punekar forum said that a silent march would begin after offering flowers at the statue of Chhatrapati Sambhaji in Deccan at 9.30 am on Tuesday. The march would pass through Alka theatre chowk, Laxmi road and Belbaug chowk before ending at Lal Mahal where Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji spent his childhood. A public rally will be held near Lal Mahal.
The silent march and rally are expected to be attended by descendents of Chhatrapati Shivaji — former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhajiraje Bhosale and sitting BJP Rajya Sabha MP Udayanraje Bhosale – along with leader of opposition Ajit Pawar and Sushma Andhare of Shiv Sena-UBT.
All the Ganesh mandals in the city have extended their support to the bandh call and their representatives will participate in it. Various social organisations, rickshaw union and traders association are also expected to participate in the bandh apart from a number of Muslim organisations.
The main demand of the protest would be for the Union government to remove Koshyari from the post of Governor. They will also demand an apology from the Governor as well as the BJP for the remarks made about the 17th century Maratha king.
Last week, Santosh Shinde of Sambhaji Brigade had said, “It has been almost a month since the state Governor made controversial statement on Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. The BJP leadership has not taken any action against him for insulting the Maratha king.”
City NCP chief Prashant Jagtap, city Congress chief Arvind Shinde and Gajanan Thurkude of Shiv Sena (UBT) have been actively coordinating for the bandh
