After Uddhav Thackeray's Ire Over Rahul's Savarkar Remarks, Opposition To Avoid Comments On Sensitive Topics

At a strategy meeting on Monday (27 March) evening, representatives of 17 political parties, including Congress, decided to avoid commenting on sensitive topics such as Veer Savarkar, which has become a contentious issue among opposition leaders.

This comes as Uddhav Thackeray was absent from the dinner meet at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's home.

Thackeray, who was upset over Rahul Gandhi's remarks on VD Savarkar, withdrew from the meeting earlier in the evening.

After receiving a two-year jail sentence and being disqualified as an MP for his remarks about PM Narendra Modi's surname, Gandhi had said, "My name is not Savarkar, won't apologise".

Thackeray's party was offended by Gandhi's statement about Veer Savarkar, as they had previously too objected to the Congress leader insulting the Hindutva icon.

Earlier on Monday (27 March), Thackeray said that he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his idol and asked the Congress leader to refrain from insulting him.

"Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar," Uddhav Thackeray said.

Thackeray warned of a possible rift in the opposition alliance if Gandhi continues to "demean" Savarkar.

"Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate," Thackeray said.

ources said at the dinner meet, the Congress had indicated that it would take into account feelings of like-minded parties. Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were also present at the meet and Mr Gandhi was one of the speakers, sources said.

At the dinner meet, the Congress party reportedly indicated that it would consider the sentiments of allied parties.

Rahul and Sonia Gandhi also attended the event, with Rahul delivering a speech.

The Congress was joined by several other political parties including the DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal United, Bharat Raksha Samithi, CPM, CPI, Aam Aadmi Party, MDMK, KC, TMC, RSP, RJD, J&K NC, IUML, VCK, SP, and JMM at the meeting.