Soon after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to drive home his point that he will not apologise over his ‘rape in India’ remark, BJP and Shiv Sena leaders and spokespersons took to Twitter to criticise him.
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said he was looking forward to the Congress’ new ally Shiv Sena’s reaction to his comment.
Soon enough, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut took to the micro-blogging site saying there can be no compromise on Savarkar.
“Veer Savarkar is an idol of the whole country and not just Maharashtra. The name Savarkar denotes pride about nation and self. Like Nehru and Gandhi, Savarkar too sacrificed his life for the country. Every such idol must be revered. There is no compromise on this,”
“We respect both Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. Please do not insult Veer Savarkar. Intelligent people need not be told anything more,” he said in another tweet.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed Rahul's comment as "condemnable" and said the Congress leader should not consider himself “a Gandhi”.
BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao said, “the more appropriate name” for Rahul Gandhi would be "Rahul Jinnah".
Speaking to news agency ANI, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said Rahul Gandhi cannot be “at par with Savarkar” even if he “takes 100 births”.
Earlier, addressing a crowd at the Congress’ Bharat Bachao Rally in New Delhi on Saturday, 14 December, Rahul Gandhi reiterated that he would not apologise for his ‘rape in India’ remark.
“My name is not Rahul Savarkar, it is Rahul Gandhi. I will not apologise for having said something right. Modi should be the one asking for forgiveness from the nation. Modi’s assistant Amit Shah should be asking for forgiveness,” Gandhi said at the rally.
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