Pune, 4th July 2025: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today unveiled a 13.5-foot-tall, 4,000-kg bronze statue of Thorle Bajirao Peshwa at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune’s Khadakwasla. The statue, a tribute to the legendary Maratha general, has been donated by the Shreemath Thorle Bajirao Peshwa Pratishthan to one of India’s premier defence institutions.
While addressing the gathering, Shah said the NDA is the most appropriate place for Bajirao's memorial, as it is the training ground for military leadership. “Had the battle for independence started by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and taken forward by the Peshwas for 100 years not been fought, India's basic structure would have ceased to exist,” Shah said. He added, “In his life of 40 years, Peshwa Bajirao wrote an immortal history which no other person could write.”
The event was attended by several top dignitaries including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil.
However, the ceremony was not without controversy. Nawab Shadab Ali Bahadur Peshwa, a direct descendant of Bajirao and Mastani, announced a boycott of the event. He alleged that he was invited at the last moment and not offered a place on the main stage, while other Peshwa descendants were seated on the dais. “This is an insult to Bajirao Peshwa’s true bloodline,” he said.
The statue unveiling comes amid ongoing political discussions in Pune, particularly following BJP MP Medha Kulkarni’s demand to rename Pune Railway Station after Thorle Bajirao. The move has stirred debate across political and cultural circles in the city.