No compromise on ideological issues like Savarkar and Hindutva: Sena

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday (November 22) made it clear that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena cannot compromise on key ideological issues like respect for V D Savarkar and Hindutva even if they are a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Though, he admitted that his party had been in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for long despite their differences, and it had worked smoothly.

In an interview to NDTV, Raut said that there are some issues such as Veer Savarkar and Hindutva, where the Shiv Sena cannot compromise. “Our party is built on an ideology and we are not surrendering that,” affirmed the Shiv Sena leader.

Also Read: Amid Savarkar row, Raut praises Rahul for enquiring about health

Last week, the Shiv Sena was upset after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made some critical comments about Savarkar. Rahul had said that Savarkar had cowed down before the Brtish and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear, thereby betraying Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders of the freedom struggle.

Raut had reacted to the comments saying that it could cause cracks in the MVA alliance of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress. Asked whether the alliance will survive in the long term, Raut said it will if the country needed it.

“If democracy, freedom and the Constitution are to be safeguarded, then we have to forget our differences and come together,” he said.

Raut, who was in New Delhi on Tuesday, said talks will take place with Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and other Congress leaders.

Also read: Maharashtra: MVA alliance on the brink after Rahul’s Savarkar remark?

On Monday, however, Raut had tweeted that he was touched when Rahul called him to enquire about his health. On the controversy over Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Sena leader said there was a demand from across the state that Koshyari be removed from his post.

Further, Raut said that when the BJP asks them how they tolerate such commentsabout Savarkar, they in turn ask them how their governor can speak against Chhatrapati Shivaji. But, the BJP does not have any answer to that, he said.

Most governors appointed during the BJP rule have been pracharaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, but when they occupy the governor’s post, they should act neutral instead of turning Raj Bhavan into a party office, Raut added.

Also read: ‘Am not Rahul Savarkar, will never apologise for speaking truth’