Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde landed in hot water after concluding his speech on Friday in Pune with "Jai Gujarat" in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre at Kondhwa in the city.
While concluding his speech, Shinde asked the audience if he could recite a sher-shayari in honour of Shah, to which the crowd enthusiastically responded in the affirmative. As he wrapped up, Shinde thanked the audience and said, "Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra," before briefly pausing and adding, "Jai Gujarat" - a remark that raised several eyebrows.
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Earlier in the day, Shah unveiled an equestrian statue of Maratha statesman and general Peshwa Bajirao I at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune.
Speaking at the ceremony, he said NDA was the most appropriate place for Bajirao's memorial as it is an institution where military leadership is trained.
"Whenever negative thoughts come to my mind, I usually think about 'Bal' (young) Shivaji and Peshwa Bajirao, thinking that they were able to establish a 'Swaraj' (self-rule or sovereign state) amid adverse conditions," he said.
The responsibility to defend the Swaraj now lies with 140 crore Indians, Shah added.
"When it was time to put up a fight to establish a Swaraj, we did it. When fighting will be required to defend the Swaraj, our forces and leadership will definitely demonstrate it, and Operation Sindoor was its finest example," he said.
Paying tributes to Bajirao I (1700 to 1740), Shah said if the battle for independence started by Shivaji Maharaj and taken forward by the Peshwas for 100 years not been fought, "India's basic structure would have ceased to exist." "In his life of 40 years, Peshwa Bajirao scripted immortal history which no other person could write," he added.
