Rahul Gandhi persistent on his remarks on Savarkar despite Uddhav Thackeray’s criticism

Rahul Gandhi persisted to criticise Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar for requesting mercy from the British during the freedom struggle, but Congress partner and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray today declared that his party, the Shiv Sena faction he heads, has “immense respect” for Savarkar.

“We don’t agree with what Rahul Gandhi has said. We respect Veer Savarkar. But, at the same time, when you are questioning us, the BJP should also have to say why they were in power with PDP (in Jammu and Kashmir),” said Thackeray, who’s been accused of “ditching his father Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva legacy” by allying with the Congress and NCP. “The PDP would never say ‘Bharat mata ki jai’,” he claimed.

“We have allied with the Congress to maintain the freedom we got from the British,” he told the reporters. Since Thackeray split from the BJP in 2019 to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi with Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar’s organisations, both parties have dealt with similar controversies in the past.

Later in the day, Rahul Gandhi backed up his comments at a press conference in Maharashtra’s Akola, showing a copy of VD Savarkar’s letter seeking mercy: “Savarkar ji wrote in it: ‘I beg to remain, sir, your most obedient servant.’ When he signed this letter, what was the reason? It was fear. He was afraid of the British.”

On disagreements with his allies on this, Rahul Gandhi said, “If someone wants to put their ideology forward, they should.”

“This is my opinion about Savarkar ji signing this letter,” he said, mentioning that Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel spent years in jail, “yet they never signed such a letter”. “These are two ideologies. Our party is open to discussion. We have no dictators.”

Uddhav Thackeray earlier questioned why the late VD Savarkar had not received the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.

“Whoever is questioning us, what’s their contribution on the freedom struggle of the country? They don’t have the right to question us on Savarkar,” he asked.

At a memorial service for tribal chief Birsa Munda in Washim, Rahul Gandhi said, “Despite the British offering him land, [Birsa Munda] refused to bow down; he chose death. We, the Congress party, consider him our idol. For the BJP and RSS, Savarkar ji, who wrote mercy petitions to the British and accepted pension, is an idol.”

The Congress has supported Rahul Gandhi’s statements. “It is a fact: Savarkar was the one who apologised to the British, and sold out the country to the British. I will also say this,” senior leader Digvijaya Singh said in Gujarat today.

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, rallies against Rahul Gandhi were organised by members of the Shiv Sena group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who ousted Uddhav Thackeray in June to “resume Shiv Sena’s natural ideological alliance with the BJP.”

Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, according to the BJP’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, are “spreading distorted history” about VD Savarkar, “but the people of Maharashtra will teach them a lesson.”

He also attacked Uddhav Thackeray, saying he has no right to take Bal Thackeray’s name. “Balasaheb Thackeray took Savarkar’s Hindutva ideology forward all his life. He attacked the people demeaning Veer Savarkar. Unfortunately, leaders from his family participated in Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra.”