Insult to Savarkar is akin to insulting India, says Maharashtra CM Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Shiv Sena faction and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kicked-off the ‘Savarkar Gaurav Yatra’ across the State to celebrate Hindu ideologue V.D. Savarkar’s contributions and target Rahul Gandhi.

Stating that an insult to Hindutva ideologue V. D. Savarkar was akin to insulting all freedom fighters as well as the country, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Shiv Sena faction and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kicked-off the ‘Savarkar Gaurav Yatra’ across the State to celebrate Savarkar’s contributions and protest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of him.

Mr. Shinde, accompanied by the BJP and his Shiv Sena faction leaders, spearheaded the charge in his bastion Thane in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), with ruling party activists raising slogans of ‘ Savarkar ji ke saaman me, Hindustan maidan me’ (the whole of India has hit the streets to respect Savarkar).

While Mr. Shinde and the BJP’s show of strength was ostensibly against Mr. Gandhi’s repeated anti-Savarkar remarks and the Congress, the real target was to expose the ‘compromised‘ Hindutva of former Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and his alliance with the ideologically opposed Congress and the NCP.

With an eye to the civic polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Mr. Shinde lashed out at Mr. Thackeray for sticking on with the ideologically opposed Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as a constituent of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

“This yatra is a fitting reply to those who keep criticising and insulting Veer Savarkar. The message through this is that Maharashtra will never tolerate any insults against Savarkar…insulting Savarkar is tantamount to insulting the country and all freedom fighters and their contribution to India’s independence. Savarkar was exemplar of Hindutva’s purest ideals and yet, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress deliberately continue to disparage him,” Mr. Shinde said.

Leaders and ruling party activists donned caps bearing the legend ‘Mi Savarkar’ (I am Savarkar) while BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and several other BJP leaders changed their social media profiles to the same legend.

Attacking Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Shinde said that when Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had allegedly ‘insulted’ Savarkar (in 2004), late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray had called for protests against Mr. Aiyar.