Stating that an insult to Hindutva ideologue V. D. Savarkar was akin to insulting all freedom fighters in addition to the nation, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Shiv Sena faction and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kicked-off the ‘Savarkar Gaurav Yatra’ throughout the State to rejoice Savarkar’s contributions and protest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of him.

Mr. Shinde, accompanied by the BJP and his Shiv Sena faction leaders, spearheaded the cost in his bastion Thane within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), with ruling social gathering activists elevating slogans of ‘ Savarkar ji ke saaman me, Hindustan maidan me’ (the entire of India has hit the streets to respect Savarkar).

While Mr. Shinde and the BJP’s present of power was ostensibly in opposition to Mr. Gandhi’s repeated anti-Savarkar remarks and the Congress, the actual goal was to reveal the ‘compromised‘ Hindutva of former Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and his alliance with the ideologically opposed Congress and the NCP.

With an eye to the civic polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Mr. Shinde lashed out at Mr. Thackeray for sticking on with the ideologically opposed Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as a constituent of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

“This yatra is a fitting reply to those who keep criticising and insulting Veer Savarkar. The message through this is that Maharashtra will never tolerate any insults against Savarkar…insulting Savarkar is tantamount to insulting the country and all freedom fighters and their contribution to India’s independence. Savarkar was exemplar of Hindutva’s purest beliefs and but, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress intentionally proceed to disparage him,” Mr. Shinde mentioned.

Leaders and ruling social gathering activists donned caps bearing the legend ‘Mi Savarkar’ (I’m Savarkar) whereas BJP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and a number of other different BJP leaders modified their social media profiles to the identical legend.

Attacking Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Shinde mentioned that when Congress chief Mani Shankar Aiyar had allegedly ‘insulted’ Savarkar (in 2004), late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray had referred to as for protests in opposition to Mr. Aiyar.

“And yet today, his son [Uddhav Thackeray] is sitting side by side with those [the Congress] who have repeatedly insulted Savarkar and Bal Thackeray’s grandson [Aaditya Thackeray] is  embracing Rahul Gandhi. This is a hurtful scene and unfortunate for Maharashtra,” Mr. Shinde mentioned, demanding to know why Mr. Thackeray lacked the braveness to unequivocally condemn Mr. Gandhi.

He additional mentioned that the MVA’s union was merely for the sake of energy, and had no ideological foundation not like the BJP and Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena of earlier instances.

“People had given us [BJP-Sena] a mandate after the 2019 Assembly election. But you [Uddhav Thackeray] had forsaken all that. Balasaheb’s ideals have long been jettisoned by you. Now, it is only ‘me and my family’ for you [Uddhav] while true Sena workers have been abandoned,” mentioned Mr. Shinde.

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Stating that he condemned Mr. Gandhi, Mr. Shinde rhetorically requested if the Congressman had the braveness to endure tortures as Savarkar did in Andaman’s Cellular Jail.

Mr. Thackeray, at his latest rally in Nashik’s Malegaon, had rebuked Mr. Gandhi for his anti-Savarkar statements, remarking that the Sena (UBT) regarded Savarkar as “a deity” and would “not tolerate any insult” in opposition to him. However, the Shinde faction and the BJP had dubbed Mr. Thackeray’s condemnation of Mr. Gandhi as “insincere.”

Incidentally, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, too, delivered a veiled rebuked to Mr. Gandhi by stating that the Savarkar challenge was “a thing of the past” and never a nationwide challenge.  

“We may have said a few things against Savarkar but it was not personal. We cannot ignore the sacrifice made by Savarkar ji for the independence of the country,” Mr. Pawar had mentioned lately in Nagpur.