'BJP keeps talking of Savarkar, however they don’t follow his ideals'

'BJP keeps talking of Savarkar, however they don’t follow his ideals'

'BJP keeps talking of Savarkar, however they don’t follow his ideals'

Hitting out against the BJP over the Citizenship Amendment Act, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray criticised former ally BJP over allowing persecuted minorities into India under the new citizenship law, saying it was an "insult" to Savarkar who sought to bring land from the Sindhu river to Kanyakumari under "one country". He said the Citizenship Amendment Act is against the principles of Savarkar—a proponent of Hindu rashtravad (nationalism) who is revered by the Sangh Parivar.

“They keep talking of Savarkar, however they don’t follow his ideals. Savarkar had spoken of Akhand Hindustan which incorporated Pakistan and Bangladesh in our country. We had formed an alliance (with the BJP) for this reason, this was our dream, this is what we wanted,” the Maharashtra Chief Minister said after protesting BJP MLAs created a ruckus in the Maharashtra assembly on Monday demanding an apology from former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for remarks against Savarkar. "We are no doubt always Hindutva-vadi. I had said so in the Vidhan Sabha. We have not done any (ideological) conversion. We were Hindus even when a party had snapped ties with us in 2014 (ahead of the assembly elections)," Thackeray said. 

The chief minister also said that Sena's stand on Savarkar remains unchanged. Rahul Gandhi's "Rahul Savarkar" remarks had evoked stern reaction from the Shiv Sena, who joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form a government in Maharashtra last month. "Veer Savarkar is an idol of whole country and not just Maharashtra. The name Savarkar denotes pride about nation and self. Like Nehru and Gandhi, Savarkar too sacrificed his life for the country. Every such idol must be revered. There is no compromise on this," Sena leader Sanjay Raut had tweeted inr response to Rahul's jibe at Savarkar. 

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