Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday asked the Congress how long it would “insult the sacrifices” of Veer Savarkar and said the opposition party will have to give an answer to the people of Maharashtra and all patriots in the country.
“The Congress, which is one of the ruling parties in Maharashtra, will have to answer the Marathi people and all patriots in the country how long will it continue to insult the sacrifice of Veer Savarkar,” Ms. Irani said at the Delhi BJP office.
She also asked why does the Congress considers its “birthright to humiliate” Veer Savarkar.
Ms. Irani launched BJP’s ‘Meri Dilli Mera Sujhav’ campaign along with other leaders including the party’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari to gather feedback of the people of Delhi to draft the party’s manifesto for forthcoming Assembly polls.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Friday also targeted Congress over a Seva Dal booklet questioning Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s credentials as a patriot and his reputation for valour.
The Hindi booklet, distributed at a camp of Congress-affiliated Seva Dal in Madhya Pradesh, had also claimed that Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse were in a physical relationship.
“Veer Savarkar was a great man and will remain a great man. A section keeps talking against him. This shows the dirt in their mind,” Raut said, responding to the insinuations in the booklet, titled “Veer Savarkar, Kitne ‘Veer’?”
The book alleged that Savarkar received money from the British after he was released from Andaman’s Cellular Jail.
Last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s jibe that his name was not “Rahul Savarkar” and hence he would not seek apology (about his remark on rape) had riled the Shiv Sena, his party’s new-found ally in Maharashtra.
