Narayan Rane Affirms Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Looted Surat, Contradicting Fadnavis

Ratnagiri, 3rd September 2024: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Narayan Rane stated on Monday that Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did indeed loot Surat.

At a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Mumbai, Rane, when asked about the historical accounts, said, “I am not a historian. But based on what I have read, heard, and learned from historian Babasaheb Purandare, Shivaji Maharaj did loot Surat.”

Rane’s comments follow a statement from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday, who criticized Congress for allegedly spreading misinformation about Shivaji. Fadnavis asserted, “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj never looted Surat,” and accused Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of misrepresenting Shivaji in his book Discovery of India, falsely portraying him as a plunderer. Fadnavis contended that Congress post-Independence deliberately propagated the myth that Shivaji looted Surat, whereas, in reality, Shivaji targeted the treasury for the cause of ‘swarajya’ and the broader welfare of the nation.

The debate intensified following the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue in Malvan, Sindhudurg district, leading to mutual accusations between the ruling and opposition parties regarding historical distortions.

Historical records indicate that Shivaji attacked and looted Surat twice in 1664 and 1670 when Surat was a prosperous Mughal port city.

During his media briefing, Rane criticized the opposition for allegedly politicizing the statue collapse in light of upcoming elections and suggested that a senior leader like Sharad Pawar should have called for peace. He also condemned Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s call for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to leave the country, stating, “What authority does he have to make such remarks? If I were the CM, I would have taken strong action against Thackeray.”

Regarding the clashes between Shiv Sena (UBT) supporters and Rane’s followers in Malvan after the statue’s collapse, Rane downplayed the incidents, stating there were no significant confrontations and that the police should have managed site visits more effectively.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has alleged that Rane’s supporters instigated violence in the district. Rane responded to this by recalling that, during his tenure as Chief Minister, he had overseen encounters with anti-national criminals listed by the police.

Addressing the FIR against MLA Nitesh Rane for alleged communal remarks at rallies in Pune and Ahmednagar, Rane mentioned he had advised Nitesh to avoid generalizing issues to entire communities and focus on specific individuals if necessary.