India, April 13 -- Politics, ancient and modern, has been playing out in the erstwhile Maratha stronghold of Raigad district over the past two days.

Close on the heels of the controversy over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Maharashtra, Union home minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah visited Raigad on Saturday, and praised the Maratha warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Shivaji was the one who first advocated swarajya (self-rule) and his story should be taught to every child in the country, Shah said. The one who called himself Alamgir was defeated in Maharashtra and buried in the state, he added.

Shah was visiting Raigad Fort, the erstwhile capital of the Maratha empire, on Friday, to pay tribute to Shivaji in ...