Notably, Ahmednagar district in western Maharashtra had been renamed Ahilyanagar following the central nod to the Maharashtra government’s proposal. Gadkari said decisions are often driven by sentiment.”Sometimes we get sentimental rather than rational. Erecting statues is acceptable, but do we take the thought process of that person forward? If we erect a statue today, nobody goes to offer a garland to the same statue after ten years,” he said.He said leadership, work and contributions of historical figures must be brought to the wider society to bring about real change.”The movement gets exhausted in making demands for statues and name changes,” Gadkari added.He said the real question before us is how to take Holkar’s thoughts to the maximum number of people.”How will people benefit from her ideas and achieve social and economic upliftment?How can her thoughts help transform society and create new Ahilyabais? These things are not being prioritised,” the minister said.He also called for moving beyond caste associations with historical leaders.”We cannot restrict great leaders to their caste. Babasaheb Ambedkar is not only for Dalits, Jyotirao Phule is not limited to Malis, and Ahilyabai Holkar is not only for Dhangars,” Gadkari said.”When we visit a restaurant, we visit it because of the taste (of food), not because of the caste of the owner,” he quipped.
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