Maharashtra CM Fadnavis Echoes Calls For Removal Of Aurangzeb's Tomb: 'Congress Put Site Under ASI Protection'

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis supported removing Aurangzeb's tomb but emphasised legality due to its protection under ASI.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has supported the calls for removal of Aurangzeb's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Source : PTI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has backed calls for the removal of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. 

However, he cautioned that it has to be done under the purview of law as the previous Congress regime put the site under the protection of Archaeological Survey of India. 

Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had called for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Fadnavis echoed Bhosale's demand but also said that it needs to be done within the framework of law. 

"We all also want the same thing, but you need to do it within the framework of the law because it is a protected site. The site was put under ASI's (Archaeological Survey of India) protection during the Congress regime some years back," the CM said, reported PTI. 

The remark by Fadnavis comes amid a recent row over Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi's remark eulogising the Mughal emperor. 

Azmi was suspended last week from the Maharashtra legislative assembly till the end of the budget session on March 26 over his remarks praising Aurangzeb.

Maharana Pratap, Not Aurangzeb Our National Hero: Adityanath 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that "our ideals and national heroes" are Maharana Pratap, Veer Shivaji and Guru Govind Singh, not Akbar or Aurangzeb.

"Akbar can never be a hero. Be it Akbar or Aurangzeb, their mentality towards Hindus was the same. They hatched many conspiracies to trample the eternal tradition of India," he said. 

The CM was speaking after unravelling the statue of Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap at Dadri. He said that only a warrior who fights an army of millions with 20 thousand soldiers can be "our true hero".