Savarkar was never a member of the RSS: Pawar tells Congress

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has stepped in to play the peacemaker role between Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena over the Savarkar row.

Pawar raised the issue during a meeting of opposition leaders convened by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday evening and made it clear that targeting Savarkar, a revered figure in Maharashtra, would not help the opposition alliance in the state, two leaders who attended the meeting told PTI.

As a result, Congress has decided to tone down criticism on Savarkar.

Former Congress Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting, along with leaders of opposition parties.

Pawar also told Rahul Gandhi that Savarkar was never a member of the RSS, and underscored that the real fight of the opposition parties was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena had skipped the meeting convened by Kharge as a mark of protest against Rahul Gandhi's remarks targeting Savarkar.

Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly attacking Savarkar in the recent past, saying that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.

While responding to a query on repeated calls by the BJP seeking his apology over various issues, Rahul Gandhi, last week, said "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone."

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar as his "idol", and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him.

He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

"Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice," he said.