Amruta Fadnavis says Governor Koshyari is 'Marathi manoos' at heart amid his Shivaji remark controversy

Mumbai, Nov 25: Amid the raging row over Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's 'old idols' comment on Shivaji, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta has come out in his support, claiming that he is a Marathi Manoos at heart.

"I know the Governor personally. He learnt Marathi after coming to Maharashtra. He genuinely loves Marathis. I have experienced this myself. But it has happened many times that he has said something and it was give some other interpretation. But he is a Marathi Manoos at heart," Amruta Fadnavis said, as quoted by NDTV on Friday.

Amid demands for his removal, Koshyari has been summoned to New Delhi after his remarks referring to Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj sparked a major controversy.

Crossed all limits: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar also slammed Koshyari over his recent statement on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and said he has "crossed all the limits".

The former Union minister also said that "such people" should not be given crucial posts.

"When I heard his comments about Shiv Chhatrapati... now he has crossed all the limits. He did praise Shivaji Maharaj yesterday, but it is a late realisation." "I think the President and the Prime Minister should take a decision (about Koshyari). Such people should not be given crucial posts," Pawar was quoted saying by PTI.

The post of governor represents an institution and in order to maintain the dignity of that post, we did not comment against Koshyari earlier, the NCP supremo added.

Koshyari's controversial remark

Koshyari had said last week during an event in Aurangabad that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an icon of "olden days". He even referred to B R Ambedkar and Union minister Nitin Gadkari while talking about "icons" in the state, drawing criticism from the opposition.

"Earlier, when you would be asked who is your icon - Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi used to be the answers. In Maharashtra, you need not look elsewhere (as) there are so many icons here. While Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is of olden time, there are Ambedkar and Nitin Gadkari," the governor said.