‘Remarkable son of India’: BJP counters Rahul’s Savarkar attack with Indira Gandhi’s letter

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (Shinde) MP Shrikant Shinde on Saturday targeted Rahul Gandhi by quoting a letter by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in which she allegedly praised the Hindutva ideologue

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

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The Shiv Sena MP cited a letter from 1980 where, he said, Indira Gandhi called Savarkar a “remarkable son of India”. “Was your grandmother also against the Constitution? You have the habit of speaking against him We are proud to praise Savarkar and will continue to do so,” Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s son said.
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Replying to Shrikant Shinde’s remarks, Rahul remarked, “I once spoke to Indira Gandhi Ji about this. She told me Savarkar ji compromised with the British, wrote a letter, and asked for forgiveness from the British. She said that Gandhi Ji went to jail and Nehru Ji went to jail, but Savarkar sought forgiveness. This was her position.”
Meanwhile, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju took to X and posted the letter written by the former PM to Savarkar. “This document is for Rahul Gandhi Ji as he made an incorrect statement in Lok Sabha about Veer Savarkar,” Kiren Rijiju said.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi referred to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s remark that “there is nothing Indian about our Constitution” to criticize the BJP in Parliament. He also alleged that Savarkar advocated for the Constitution to be replaced by the Manusmriti.

“VD Savarkar explicitly wrote that there is nothing Indian about our Constitution. So, when you (BJP) claim to protect the Constitution, you are actually mocking, defaming, and disrespecting Savarkar,” Gandhi said.