Following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments on V D Savarkar which drew the ire of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, the two parties have reportedly put aside their differences.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut dialed up Rahul Gandhi to talk about the issue and said that they had settled differences, NDTV reported on Tuesday.
“We have talked to Rahul Gandhi. Our fight is not with Savarkar but with Modi ji,” Raut told reporters.
“The things that have been said in the meeting — the things that have been said, are good things. Let our unity remain intact. I think it is going well,” he added, referring to the dinner meet at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s home on Monday evening.
The meeting had been skipped by Uddhav Thackeray’s camp after Gandhi’s ‘Savarkar’ comments irked him.
The 17 parties attending the meeting decided that no opposition leader would make comments on sensitive issues like Savarkar, sources said, as per the report. The Congress had indicated that it would take into account feelings of like-minded parties, it said.
At a rally on Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray said he considers Savarkar as his “idol”, and asked Gandhi to refrain from “insulting” him.
“Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice,” he said.
”I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country’s democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election,” he added.
He further said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance between the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.
Following Uddhav’s remarks, speculation was rife about cracks in the MVA. NCP chief Sharad Pawar also stepped in to play the peacemaker by conveying the Shiv Sena’s concerns on the issue to the Congress leadership, PTI reported on Tuesday.
Pawar raised the issue during a meeting of opposition leaders convened by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday evening and made it clear that targeting Savarkar, a revered figure in Maharashtra, would not help the opposition alliance in the state, two leaders who attended the meeting told PTI.
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