Uddhav-led Sena says Cong and BJP have trivialised issue of Savarkar

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena slammed the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the recent controversy over freedom fighter V D Savarkar, and said the two parties have trivialised the issue.

Last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, had claimed that Savarkar used to get a stipend from the British and asserted that it was a historical fact. Reacting sharply, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said Gandhi doesn’t know the history of India and of his party. Fadnavis also targeted Uddhav Thackeray and asked whether the Shiv Sena leader supports such a statement against Savarkar, PTI report stated.

Savarkar, a Hindutva ideologue, is a highly polarised figure in modern Indian history. He is a revered figure for both the Shiv Sena and the BJP. “The two parties should first study Savarkar’s political, social, scientific and economic thoughts,” it said.

The Shiv Sena said despite being in power since the last eight years, the BJP has not awarded Savarkar with Bharat Ratna, a demand it has been making for years. The Congress could have a separate thinking about the role of revolutionaries in the freedom struggle, but the British were taken aback by the revolt by many revolutionaries like Savarkar, the Sena said.