BJP rule in Maharashtra worse than Aurangzeb’s time: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday (March 14, 2025) called the BJP rule in Maharashtra worse than that of Aurangzeb and claimed that farmers were dying because of the saffron party.

He claimed that farmers, unemployed people and women are committing suicides in the State.

“It’s been 400 years since Aurangzeb was buried. Forget him. Are farmers in Maharashtra committing suicide due to Aurangzeb? They are doing it because of you,” Mr. Raut said.

If the Mughal ruler committed atrocities, then what is the government doing, he asked. BJP leads the ruling Mahayuti coalition, also comprising the Shiv Sena and NCP, in the State.

“Farmers are committing suicide. BJP’s tenure is worse than that of Aurangzeb,” Mr. Raut said.

He was responding to a question on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks that “everyone” feels Mughal ruler Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed. But it has to be done under legal purview as the previous Congress regime put the site under the Archaeological Survey of India’s protection, Mr. Fadnavis had said.

BJP’s Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had sought the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Aurangzeb is remembered in Maharashtra for his battles with the Marathas, who resisted his expansionist ambitions. Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhaji, was captured, tortured, and executed on his orders.