Shiv Sena (UBT) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of digging up the grave of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Maharashtra as evoking Bajrang Bali did not work for the party in the Assembly polls in neighbouring Karnataka.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena (UBT) said Aurangzeb died more than three centuries ago but some parties, an apparent reference to the BJP and the protests against the Mughal ruler’s posters at processions, were exhuming him for political gains.
BJP used Bajrang Bali in Karnataka, but it was routed in the Assembly polls there which is why work is on to dig up Aurangzeb’s grave. Aurangzeb has become the new political tool in Maharashtra, the editorial said. In neighbouring Karnataka, the BJP evoked Lord Hanuman in its political campaign after the Congress, in its manifesto, promised to ban groups like the Bajrang Dal if they were found to foment communal trouble and breach of peace.
In the editorial, the Shiv Sena (UBT) said the youth that had gathered for the protest in Kolhapur belonged to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal and had arrived from outside. Keeping Aurangzeb (image) as (social media) status is just a pretext. There is a conspiracy to make these two districts, which are very important centres of the cooperative sector, unstable, the Saamana editorial said.
Aurangzeb is a loathed figure in the state for his relentless campaigns against legendary warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and for ordering the execution of the latter’s son Chhatrapati Sambhaji.