PremiumTushar Gandhi, the great grand son of Mahatma Gandhi reaffirmed Rahul Gandhi's remark on VD Savarakar saying, ‘Veer Savarkar was friends with the Britishers, he apologised to the Britishers to move out of prison…’
Be it apple of an eye or an apple of discord but more than half a century after his death VD Savarkar is still an apple rolling in the basket of controversies within Indian politics. The recent remarks made by Rahul Gandhi, the scion of Nehru's lineage, against Savarkar have been reaffirmed by Mahatma Gandhi's great grand son, Tushar Gandhi.
Tushar Gandhi who recently joined Rahul in the Bharat Jodo Yatra at Shegaoinn in Maharashtra said, “It is true that Veer Savarkar was friends with the Britishers, he apologised to the Britishers to move out of prison...It is not like we have taken it from WhatsApp university, there is evidence in history"
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had targeted the late Hindutva ideologue, claiming that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear. His remark came just two days after he called Savarkar a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) infuriating other organisations like Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena.
Yesterday afyer Rahul's remarks, Tushar Gandhi had tweeted, “Savarkar actively helped the British during the Second World War. He continued doing so even after knowing that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his INA were fighting the British, this is an undeniable historic fact."
Congress is hailing Tushar's participation in the Bharat Jodo Yatra as "historic". As the great-grandsons of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, respectively, the party referred to Rahul Gandhi and Tushar Gandhi as bearers of the two late leaders' legacies.
"The two walking together is a message to the rulers that they can put democracy in threat but will not be allowed to finish it off," the party said in a statement.
The yatra, which has been travelling through Maharashtra since 7 November, began its day's journey from Balapur in the Akola district at around six in the morning and arrived in Shegaon a few hours later, where activist and author Tushar Gandhi joined it.
Along with Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress figures Deepender Hooda, Mukul Wasnik, Milind Deora, Manikrao Thakre, Bhai Jagtap, the president of the Mumbai Congress, and Nana Patole, the head of the party's state unit, walked alongside him.
(With inputs from agencies)