Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday condemned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was getting a stipend from the British.
“Rahul Gandhi once again insulted Veer Savarkar, who was an inspiration to thousands of youngsters during the freedom struggle. Does he know anything about Indian history or even the history of the Congress party?” Fadnavis questioned.
Fadnavis also alleged that Gandhi was trying to grab media attention with sensational remarks after he failed to get support for his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
He also asked Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to clear his stand on the same and questioned if the Sena will welcome Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra after this statement.
Gandhi, who embarked on Bharat Jodo Yatra for a month now, said in a press conference in Karnataka on Saturday, that Savarkar divided India. “Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel gave their lives fighting against the British, while Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was helping British rulers in pre-independent India. Savarkar used to take stipends from the British rulers. These are historical facts which BJP cannot hide…”
Reacting to this, Fadnavis said that Rahul was speaking out of ignorance about history. “He had been repeatedly insulting Veer Savarkar by saying he was Britisher’s agent, he sought pardon from the British rule among others. Congress has been deliberately insulting RSS and its leaders since independence. I condemn Rahul Gandhi for the remarks,” Fadnavis said.
Fandnavis said that Gandhi was making such controversial remarks to attract media attention as he has not been getting response to his “so-called Bharat Jodo yatra. He also questioned the Shiv Sena stand on the remarks by Gandhi. “I want to ask Uddhav Thackeray whether he will condemn the statement by Gandhi or he will send his leaders to welcome the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Thackeray should react to this,” he said.