No mention of Shivaji's mentor in textbooks

Pune: The Class IV history textbook in Maharashtra on the life of the Maratha warrior-king Shivaji is not a new theme. But if one looks closely, this year there is one dramatic difference. It has no references to Dadoji Kondadev, a Brahmin who was considered to be Shivaji's mentor.

The old textbook says "Shivaji took warfare lessons under the guidance of Dadoji Kondadev. He also learnt martial arts and archery under his guidance. It had pictures of Kondadev standing prominently next to Shivaji.

The new text book however, simply says that Shivaji took warfare lessons under the guidance of few experts who were appointed by his father. The few pictures of Kondadev show him standing in the background. He is not named.

The powerful Maratha lobby, a caste to which many in the Congress-NCP government belong, had been lobbying for the change.

Historians like Gajanan Mehendale, considered an authority on Shivaji have accused the government of playing into the hands of the Maratha lobby.

First the Congress-NCP government announced it was building a Shivaji statue in the middle of the Arabian sea. Now it has changed the history textbook, all clearly with an eye on the powerful Maratha vote ahead of the assembly polls.