In the world of Indian politics, it is axiomatic that symbolism often speaks louder than words. Recently, at the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s rally at Dadar’s iconic Shivaji Park, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi turned down a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj when his party colleague, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad, presented the statue of the great Maratha warrior-king to the Congress Leader of Opposition. In a clip that went viral, Gandhi does not even look at Gaikwad and the statue – a gesture that provoked the ire of netizens across Maharashtra and the country. This was not the first time. Earlier in Pune, during a rally ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi had similarly declined to accept a statue of Shivaji Maharaj on the dais.
In a state like Maharashtra, where the figure of Chhatrapati Shivaji holds immense cultural and political significance and is central to its proud heritage, such gestures do not behove the country’s Leader of Opposition and cannot be dismissed as mere political missteps. Shivaji Maharaj is not just a historical figure but a symbol of pride, a source of inspiration for millions owing not just to his military exploits in facing up to the mighty Mughal and the Deccani sultanates, but for his statesmanship and rare nobility of character.
This is hardly the first time Rahul Gandhi has found himself at the centre of controversy over symbols and figures with strong emotional appeal particularly to the Hindu majority. His repeated criticisms of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a prominent freedom fighter and a polarising figure in contemporary political discourse, have further fuelled the perception that the Congress party, under his leadership, is determined to distance itself from icons of ‘Hindu pride.’
The question here is whether the Congress leader is attempting to appease his party’s Muslim constituency by avoiding overt identification with symbols supposedly linked to Hindu nationalism?
Rahul’s stance appears paradoxical. On one hand, he lost no time in criticizing the BJP for the collapse of a statue of Shivaji in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, in August. On the other hand, he cannot seem to accept a statue of the very same figure when presented by his own party leaders. This inconsistency is hard to overlook.
The optics of snubbing Shivaji Maharaj while sitting beside his ally, Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray, only adds to the confusion given it was Uddhav’s father, Bal Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena. Uddhav’s silence at such gestures only makes one wonder what his father, a fiery opponent of the Congress, would have thought of his son.
Whether or not Rahul Gandhi’s actions are a calculated attempt to navigate the delicate balancing act between secularism and regional pride is open to debate. But what is clear is that in poll-bound Maharashtra, where the memory of Shivaji Maharaj looms large, symbolic missteps like these may prove costly.
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