History based on facts needed to inspire new generation — Sharad Pawar

Pune, July 23 (PTI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that fact-based historical accounts, which inspired new generation, were the need of the hour.

Speaking while releasing a book on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj here, the former Union minister said that while some of the present historical accounts on the Maratha warrior king are based on facts, some others are false and exaggerated.

“Nobody else has done injustice to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj more than Babasaheb Purandare,” Pawar alleged.

Purandare, popularly known as ‘Shiv Shahir’ (Shivaji’s bard), died in November last year. He had authored “Raja Shivchhatrapati”, a popular two-part 900-page magnum opus on Shivaji Maharaj in Marathi.

“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had nothing to do with Dadoji Konddev,” Pawar said, adding that the best sports coach award given in the name of Konddev was stopped “when the fact came to light”.

In some historical references, Konddev has been presented as a Brahmin tutor and mentor of Shivaji Maharaj, but some Maratha outfits have contested the claim.