Savarkar rallies held in Maharashtra; CM Shinde slams Rahul

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Shiv Sena on Sunday held Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in several cities in Maharashtra to protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attacks on late Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.

While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led a very well attended rally in Thane, others were organised in Mumbai, including in Dadar and Andheri West, as well as Nashik, the birthplace of Savarkar.

Tagging Gandhi in a tweet about the reception the yatra got in Andheri West, BJP MLA Amit Satam said, “Muslim brothers welcomed Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in Andheri West today. Veer Savarkar is revered irrespective of caste, creed or religion. Do you understand Rahul Gandhi? The BJP had also organised the yatra in Nashik, where Savarkar was born in Bhagur village on May 28, 1883.

In Thane, CM Shinde slammed Gandhi for his remarks, and mocked Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray for claiming the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray but remaining silent on the Congress leader’s repeated attacks on Savarkar.

The BJP-Shiv Sena has latched on to the remarks against Savarkar to attack the Congress and also put Uddhav Thackeray on the backfoot since the undivided Sena under Balasaheb Thackeray regularly demanded the Bharat Ratna for the late Hindutva ideologue.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress, along with the Nationalist Congress Party, are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.

The Shinde government also plans to organise a Veerbhoomi Parikrama at Nashik, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Pune and Mumbai to from May 21 to 28 to mark the birth anniversary of Savarkar.

The state government plans to build a museum dedicated to Savarkar in Bhagur in Nashik.

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