State honours Ahilyadevi Holkar, woos Dhangars

The BJP-led Mahayuti government is scrambling to make good on a decade-old promise to the Dhangar community, by announcing a series of initiatives dedicated to Ahilyadevi, the famous 18th century queen of the Holkar dynasty.

In what could seem like overdrive, the state has announced a new medical college bearing her name, conservation of a memorial commemorating the Maratha queen, a biographical movie, a clean-up of the ghats developed by Ahilyadevi, and a commemorative postage stamp in her honour. The state will also literally sing her praises by releasing a song celebrating her contributions.

The decisions were announced by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, on the occasion of Ahilyadevi’s 300th birth anniversary on Tuesday, at a ministerial council meeting held for the first time in Ahilyanagar, formerly Ahmednagar.

Ahilyadevi was born into a Dhangar family in Chaundi, in Ahmednagar district, and married into the Holkar dynasty in Indore. A progressive queen known for her administrative prowess, she has remained an icon of the Dhangar community.

The Dhangars are a pastoral, nomadic community, classified as a Nomadic Tribe, who enjoy 3.5% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in Maharashtra. The community has been demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, which would double their reservation quota in the state. They consider themselves ‘Dhangads’ and enjoy reservation under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category in many other states.

The Dhangars, who comprise around 10% of Maharashtra’s population, have a significant presence in six to seven Lok Sabha constituencies, such as Baramati, Parbhani, Dharashiv (Osmanabad), Ahilyanagar, Amravati, Solapur and Shirur.

Given their significant numbers, the BJP decided to win them over as a potential votebank in 2014. It was then, as state BJP chief during Congress-NCP rule, that Devendra Fadnavis promised to re-classify the Dhangars as a Scheduled Tribe if the BJP was voted to power. But the party failed to keep its promise.

A decade later, in October 2024, the previous Mahayuti government under Eknath Shinde resurrected Ahilyadevi as a state icon when they renamed Ahmednagar as ‘Ahilyanagar’. Now, the BJP-led Mahayuti government under Devendra Fadnavis has made the Maratha queen a political priority once again.

Topping the initiatives announced on Tuesday is a ₹681-crore plan for the conservation of the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar memorial in Ahilyanagar. “We will restore and conserve her memorial at Chaundi and will build it like a national monument, an inspirational place and a pilgrimage site,” said Fadnavis.

The government will also make a multilingual, biographical movie on the Maratha queen, which will be released globally in cinemas, on television and on OTT platforms. The Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation (MFSCDC) has been appointed as the executive agency for the project. “It will be a commercial movie which will be made in several languages such as Marathi, Hindi among others,” said Fadnavis.

Fadnavis also said the government would desilt and rejuvenate all the ghats, wells and water supply systems developed Ahilyadevi during her tenure as queen of the Holkar dynasty. “A special ₹75-crore scheme will restore 34 historical water structures, including 19 wells, six ghats, and six kunds that were identified in a state-wide survey,” the chief minister said.

A new medical college and hospital named after Ahilyadevi will be built in Ahilyanagar at an estimated cost of ₹485 crore. It will be a 430-bed hospital, while the medical college will have 100 seats.

Fadnavis also declared the renaming of a scheme for Dhangar students to access English-medium residential schools as ‘Raje Yashwantrao Holkar’, and the renaming of a post-matric hostel scheme for Dhangar students as the ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Hostel Scheme’. Hostels will be developed in all regions of the state, each housing 200 students. A government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) for girls will also be opened in Ahilyanagar, Fadnavis said.

Concluding the slew of announcements, the chief minister said a postage stamp would be released to honour the contributions of the Maratha queen, as would a song to spread awareness about her achievements.