Raj sees ''caste politics'' behind shifting of Kondadev statue

Mumbai, Jan 12 (PTI) MNS chief Raj Thackeray todaycriticised "caste politics" behind the shifting of the statueof Dadoji Kondadev from Lal Mahal in Pune.

Kondadev, a Brahmin, is considered to be Shivaji''steacher, but some Maratha organisations including SambhajiBrigade questioned veracity of this assumption, and demandedthat his statue be removed from the historical palace, LalMahal, which houses statues of Shivaji and his mother too.

Local NCP had backed this demand.

Referring to this episode, Raj said at a rally, "Wecannot determine one''s teacher on the basis of caste...DrAmbedkar''s teacher was also a brahmin. So, would you changethat piece of history? What message we are giving to the nextgeneration with such incidents?" he asked.

The rally had been organised to condemn the thrashingwhich MNS MLA Harshwardhan Jadhav allegedly received at thehands of police last week when he got into a scuffle with themduring the Chief Minister''s visit to Aurangabad.

Raj lashed out at Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar andHome Minister R R Patil (both from NCP) for backing SambhajiBrigade and not taking any action against despite its allegedinvolvement in various incidents of violence. .