New Delhi: Countering Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of V D Savarkar, the BJP and its ally, Shiv Sena, reminded the Congress leader on Saturday that his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi had hailed the Hindutva ideologue as a “remarkable son of India” and issued a postage stamp in his honour.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde wondered whether Indira Gandhi was also anti-Constitution as she had praised Savarkar as a “remarkable son of India”.
He read out a letter written by Indira Gandhi to Pandit Bakhle of the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak on the occasion of the freedom fighter’s birth centenary celebrations.
“Was your grandmother also anti-Constitution? You have the habit of speaking nonsense about Savarkarji…. But we revere Savarkarji, we are proud of him,” Shinde said.
The House witnessed tumultuous scenes when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to respond to Shinde’s remarks, but was disallowed by the Chair.
“I had asked this question to Indira Gandhi when I was younger. Indira Gandhi said Savarkarji compromised with the British, wrote a letter to the British and asked for forgiveness from the British,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Indira Gandhi said (Mahatma) Gandhiji went to jail, (Jawaharlal) Nehruji went to jail and Savarkarji sought forgiveness. This was the position of Indira Gandhi,” he said.
Shinde wondered whether the members of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) agreed with the views of the Congress on Savarkar.
Earlier, Gandhi referred to Savarkar’s criticism of the Constitution that there was “nothing Indian about it” to mount an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said the ruling party is defaming and ridiculing its own “supreme leader” when it talks about protecting the Constitution.
Hitting back at the former Congress president, BJP member Nishikant Dubey said Rahul Gandhi cannot be Savarkar in his entire lifetime.
“Indira Gandhi had issued a postage stamp in the honour of Veer Savarkar. In 1979, Indira Gandhi made a donation of Rs 11,000 from her personal account to the Savarkar Trust. In 1983, Indira Gandhi got a documentary made on Savarkar by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” Dubey said.
The BJP leader added that in 1980, Indira Gandhi said a worthy son like Savarkar is born once in an era.
“Rahul Gandhi can never be Savarkar and he should apologise to his grandmother,” Dubey said.
Former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad suggested that Gandhi should visit the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to understand the sufferings Savarkar underwent as a prisoner there.
“He has issues with Savarkar. He should visit the Cellular Jail where Savarkar was incarcerated for 11 years,” Prasad said.
“One can speak anything to further one’s politics, but one should not say such things for a person who made great sacrifices for the nation,” he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders poked fun at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday for some of the comments, including that “tapasya” is meant to generate heat in the body, he made during his speech in the Lok Sabha.
BJP spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra and the party’s IT department head Amit Malviya posted bits of the video of Gandhi’s speech on X to mock him.
Gandhi’s reference to Eklavya, a character in “Mahabharat“, as a boy aged six-seven years, and the leader of the opposition’s comment that Dronacharya cut off his thumb were two other points from the speech that Patra highlighted to say “such knowledge comes from George Soros”.
Malviya said, “This round goes to Rahul Gandhi. He remains the undisputed king of bloopers.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including Union ministers, were seen laughing at times when Gandhi was speaking.
In his speech, Gandhi cited Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar’s remarks that there was nothing Indian about the Constitution and took a jibe at the BJP, saying by talking of protecting the Constitution, the ruling party is “ridiculing” its “supreme leader”.
