Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday (March 10, 2025) announced that the newly-formed Mahayuti government will build a memorial for Maratha warriors in Haryana who fought and were martyred in the third battle of Panipat. He tabled the Budget for the 2025-26 fiscal.
He also said that his government would build a memorial in Agra from where Chhatrapati Shivaji escaped from the Mughul custody. “Our government will coordinate with Uttar Pradesh government for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in Agra,” said the Finance Minister.
Earlier in January, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had annouced that a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji would be erected at Panipat and a grand memorial would be built at the site where the battle was fought.
In the historic battle of January 14, 1761, the invading army of Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas in which thousands of soldiers died on both sides. The Afghans won the battle with the help of Mughal forces.
The announcement of memorial comes at a time when the BJP has emerged as a chief critic of the Mughal rule, especially that of Aurangazeb.
In 2022, the Maharashtra Cabinet led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced the renaming of Aurangabad district to Sambhajinagar. After replacing the the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime, the Eknath Shinde-led government went a step further by renaming the city with an added suffix as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
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