“If the President says that there was no painting of Shivaji Maharaj in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it speaks a lot,” said Shri Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati, the 13th descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Shri Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati, the 13th descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, revealed in an exclusive interview to Organiser Weekly (dated April 22, 2018) that President Shri Ram Nath Kovind told him that there was no painting of Shivaji Maharaj in Rashtrapati Bhavan until the former presented him a portrait of Shivaji Maharaj in February last year.
Answering to a question, Shri Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati said, “Shivaji Maharaj should not be confined to one state alone. He belongs to the entire nation. In fact, Shivaji Jayanti was celebrated in Delhi on a larger scale with the objective of taking Shivaji Maharaj out of Maharashtra. When we presented a painting of Chhatrapati Shivaji to the President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, he was delighted to receive the painting because he was missing Shivaji Maharaj at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It seems there was no painting of Chhatrapati Shivaji earlier in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.”
Shri Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati
Even though Rashtrapati Bhavan was occupied by a person from Maharashtra, it could not accommodate a portrait of Shivaji Maharaj.
“If the President says that there was no painting of Shivaji Maharaj in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it speaks a lot. His statement was an eye-opener. Every national hero should have a place in the President House,” Shri Shri Sambhaji Raje added. Shri Sambhaji Raje, the elder son of Shrimant Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj of Kolhapur, was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the President of India on June 11, 2016. The Maharashtra Government has given him the responsibility of restoring the forts of Maharashtra particularly the forts related to Shivaji Maharaj.
