The Raj Bhavan on Monday denied reports of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari offering to resign after rising pressure from Opposition parties for his remarks about 17th century Maratha ruler Shivaji, reported the Hindustan Times.

“Such reports are baseless,” said a spokesperson of the Raj Bhavan.

At an event in Aurangabad on November 12, the governor had referred to Shivaji as an “icon of olden times” as opposed to “modern-day” ones like BR Ambedkar and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin Gadkari.

The Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena (Udhhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress sought his resignation, saying Koshyari insulted the Maratha ruler.

Uddhav Thackeray described him as an “Amazon parcel” sent by the central government to Maharashtra and warned that his party may hold a state-wide bandh if the governor is not “taken back”.

On Monday, Rajya Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (Udhhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Sanjay Raut had claimed that Koshyari had offered to resign as the governor amid the controversy.

“As soon as the Shiv Sena signaled the Maharashtra bandh against the insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, he seems to have run away,” Raut said in a tweet. “Yet the battle with the enemies of Maharashtra will continue! The gate of the Raj Bhavan fell.”