The Congress is struggling to find a strong counter to the BJP's mid-election pitch for a Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar, and the fault lines in the party on the question of how to deal with the Hindutva icon are out in the open as party leaders speak in contrasting voices on the ruling party's efforts to celebrate Savarkar's legacy.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi today raised eyebrows with his praise of Savarkar. He tweeted, “I personally don't subscribe to Savarkar's ideology but that doesn't take away the fact that he was accomplished man who played part in our freedom struggle, flights (sic) for Dalit rights and went to jail for the country. #NeverForget”.
Singhvi's call to look at the positives of Savarkar's role in the freedom struggle follow former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's nuanced response to the Savarkar issue in Mumbai recently. The ex-premier said his party was not against Savarkar but only opposed to him for ideological reasons.
“As far as Savarkarji is concerned, you would recall that Indiraji had issued a postal stamp commemorating Savarkarji. So we are not against Savarkarji... we are not in favour of the Hindutva ideology that Savarkarji patronised and stood for. As far as the case of the Bharat Ratna being referred to the government... the issue will be settled by the government when his case comes before the committee which looks into these matters.”
Manmohan's remarks were perhaps more an attempt at balancing the Congress' approach to Savarkar on account of electoral compulsions, given the resonance that his legacy elicits in election-going Maharashtra.
The BJP has put Savarkar in the middle of political discourse by proposing that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on the Hindutva icon in its manifesto for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra. And the Congress is faced with the electoral compulsion of not playing into the hands of the BJP as it raises issues of Hindutva and aid polarisation of the electorate.
However, the confusion in the Congress concerning what stand to take vis-a-vis Savarkar also exposes the inherent divisions in the party when it comes to taking a stand on matters that are right of the ideological fulcrum.
The laudatory responses do not gel with former party chief Rahul Gandhi's oft-made statements on Savarkar, in which he questioned his patriotic credentials. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, he had tried to project Savarkar as the exact ideological opposite of the Congress. He had commented that while Mahatma Gandhi was fearless and stayed in jail for years, Savarkar wrote letters to the British rulers, apologising and asking to be let off.
Articulating the Congress' view on the proposal for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, party spokesman Manish Tewari had said from the AICC podium: “In a country, where Mahatma Gandhi is being made to commit suicide in textbooks, anything is possible.” He referred to the findings of the Kapur Commission that was set up in 1966 to look into the allegations of conspiracy in the assassination of Gandhi. He said the Commission had concluded that facts pointed towards a conspiracy to Gandhi's murder by “Savarkar and his group”.
“If on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, this government considers any such thing, then all I want to say is that God save this country,” Tewari said.
A similar stance was taken by party leader Kapil Sibal, who said, responding to queries on Savarkar, “We respect everyone... whoever has contributed towards the country's protection, be it Savarkar or someone else... But you have to decide whether you are a devotee of Mahatma Gandhi or Savarkar or both. This question will rise and you will have to respond.”
