Mumbai: BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Gopinath Munde, today (Mar 17, 2004) said that the State Government should ban the recent edition of 'Discovery of India', authored by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which carries derogatory remarks on Maratha warrior, Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhan Bhavan, Munde said, "The State Government should either ban the book or delete the objectionable paragraph on Maratha warrior that has appeared on page number 272 and 273 of the book."

The Government should also recommend the Central Government to ban the book, he added.

The BJP leader had raised the issue in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly earlier to which the Home Minister, R R Patil had said the matter was too old and even Nehru had apologised for the same.

Pointing out the recent ban on a book written by James Laine which carried derogatory remarks on Shivaji, he said, "How is it that the State Government can tolerate derogatory remarks written in Nehru's book, which was published by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi."

He further said that Shivaji has been described in the book, as a rebellion and one who looted treasures.