Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeeay) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday hailed the exit of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari from the top post. Calling him an "anti-Maharashtra governor", Thackeray said that it is a “big win for the state”. President Droupadi Murmu accepted Koshyari's resignation on Sunday morning - just a month after he had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his desire to resign.
“The resignation of anti Maharashtra Governor has finally been accepted! He, who constantly insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Pule & Savitri bai Phule, our Constitution, Assembly & democratic ideals, cannot be accepted as a Governor!,” Thackeray wrote on Twitter.
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Sena veteran Sanjay Raut also reacted to Koshyari's exit. “Changing the Governor is not a favour to Maharashtra, many Governors have been changed. It has been a year since the people of Maharashtra were demanding a change of Governor because of his (BS Koshiyari) remarks on Shivaji Maharaj and Savitiribai Phule,” he told news agency ANI.
{{/usCountry}}Sena veteran Sanjay Raut also reacted to Koshyari's exit. “Changing the Governor is not a favour to Maharashtra, many Governors have been changed. It has been a year since the people of Maharashtra were demanding a change of Governor because of his (BS Koshiyari) remarks on Shivaji Maharaj and Savitiribai Phule,” he told news agency ANI.
{{/usCountry}}Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also said that Koshyari's exit is a “big win”. “The man who shamed the constitutional chair of the governor, the man who insulted revered figures of the state, the man who mocked the hard work of Marathis, the man who mocked the democratic principles is finally shunted from Maharashtra. Big win for the state,” she tweeted.
Koshyari will be replaced by Ramesh Bais - who served as the Governor of Jharkhand until Sunday's major reshuffle.
The change in the top post comes after a major recent controversy over Koshyari's comment on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In February 2022, the former Maharashtra governor said Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj would have been nothing without his guru Samarth Ramdas during an event organized by Samarth Sahitya Parishad in Aurangabad. In November, he stirred the controversy again after calling Shivaji Maharaj “a hero of the past era”. “In school… We would name our favourite leaders as Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru….Maharashtra is full of such tall leaders. Shivaji has become the hero of the past era. You can find the present heroes right here from Dr BR Ambedkar to (union minister) Nitin Gadkari,” he said.