India, Oct. 1 -- Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane on Thursday accused Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke of insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj through a social media post showing cockroaches beneath a statue of the warrior-king.

Addressing reporters, Rane said the post on X was linked to the CJP's ongoing agitation and alleged that depicting cockroaches beneath Shivaji Maharaj's statue amounted to showing the Mavalas, who fought alongside him for Swarajya, as cockroaches.

"Do they want to insult our Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the name of this 'Cockroach Janata Party' agitation?" Rane said.

Rane said his objection was not directed at Dipke or Saurav Das personally, but at what he alleged were attempts to ...