Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar helped the British, adding that he wrote a mercy petition to the then rulers.
Addressing a press conference, Gandhi showed a paper to the media persons, claiming it was a letter written by Savarkar to the British.
“I will read the last line, which says 'I beg to remain your most obedient servant' and is signed V D Savarkar,” Gandhi said at the media interaction during his Bharat Jodo Yatra foot march which is in the last leg of Maharashtra.
His comments came after Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said he does not agree with Gandhi’s views on Savarkar. Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has also claimed that Gandhi has been "shamelessly lying" about Savarkar.
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Gandhi said he was of the view that Savarkar signed the letter out of fear and in doing so, betrayed Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru and other leaders of the freedom struggle.
What did Rahul Gandhi comment?
Addressing a rally in Washim district on Tuesday organised as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi had said Savarkar is a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). "He was jailed in Andaman for two three years. He started writing mercy petitions," the Congress MP had said.
The former Congress president had claimed Savarkar wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was. He used to take pension from the British, work for them, and work against the Congress, Gandhi had said.
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Uddhav Thackeray responds
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday said his party has immense respect for V D Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.
Talking to reporters, Thackeray also asked why the Centre has not conferred the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar.
"We do not approve of Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Savarkar. We have immense respect and faith for Swatyantra Veer Savarkar and it cannot be erased,” he said.
Responding to it, Uddhav Thackeray said, “It is laughable when parents or their progeny (apparently referring to the RSS and BJP) who have no connection with the freedom struggle express love for Savarkar."
He said the RSS is completing 100 years, but it was not a part of the freedom struggle.
They don't have the right to talk about Savarkar, he added.
“Savarkar who made sacrifices for freedom…the same freedom needs to be protected today," the former CM said.
“You ask us questions when Rahul Gandhi says something about Savarkar," he commented.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has an alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
His son and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray had participated in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra last week.
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Shinde's-faction MP hits out at Gandhi
A day after Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale, affiliated to the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, demanded that the Bharat Jodo Yatra be stopped in Maharashtra, Congress leader Yashomati Thakur on Thursday hit out at him saying those who do not have any present or future should not comment on history.
Thakur, a former Maharashtra minister, was responding to Shewale's demand to stop the yatra over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks against Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
Shewale, while speaking at a symposium on Hindutva held at Savarkar Memorial on Wednesday, slammed Gandhi for his remarks against Savarkar and demanded that the Bharat Jodo Yatra be stopped in in the state for insulting the late freedom fighter.
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The Congress's cross-country foot-march, led by Gandhi, is currently passing through the state.
Without naming Shewale, Thakur said in a tweet, ''Those who don't have any present or future shouldn't speak on history. Rahul Gandhi is speaking against the factory of hatred and distortion of history. Hurt by his remarks, the Sangh Parivar is asking the people hired by it to speak."
"Rahul Gandhi's arrow has hit the bull's eye. A party which has been stolen should not speak about of stopping the yatra. It is beyond your reach," she added.
(with PTI inputs)
