Book row: Congress to hold protests in Maha on Jan 14

The ruling Congress in Maharashtra will hold protests across the state on Tuesday against a book written by a Delhi BJP leader comparing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A political firestorm has erupted in Maharashtra over the book--"Aaj ke Shivaji: Narendra Modi", written by Jay Bhagwan Goyal, with the Shiv Sena demanding a ban on the book.

Ruling allies Sena, NCP and Congress have criticised the book.

"Congress workers will take out a protest march at every district headquarter on Tuesday against the book," Maharashtra Congress president and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat told reporters here on Monday evening.

He accused the BJP of attempting to "insult" Chhatrapati Shivaji, who enjoys a reverential status in Maharashtra, and his legacy by seeking to compare him with the prime minister.

"Such attempts were previously made by BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Goyal and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath," he alleged.

Thorat said Shivaji Maharaj's "secular approach" to establish 'Swarajya' in the 17th Century cannot be compared with PM Modi's "divisive politics and communal policies" like the CAA and NRC.

"The autocratic nature of the prime minister in running the government cannot be equated with the secular approach through which Swarajya was established by Chhatrapati Shivaji," he said.

He also accused Union Home Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah of labelling every individual who holds different views as an "anti-national".

As the controversy escalated with the Sena taking an aggressive stand, the BJP in Delhi on Monday distanced itself from the book, saying the party has nothing do with its publication and it represents the author's personal opinion.

The author Goyal told PTI that he was willing to revise those parts of the book to which opposition leaders have objected.

Apart from Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, BJP's Rajya Sabha member Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje, who is a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has demanded that the book be banned.