Mumbai, Nov 26 (IANS ) Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi came in the firing line of the BJP on Tuesday for repeating "derogatory" remarks against Veer Savarkar with party National Spokesperson Prem Shukla calling him a "habitual abuser".
“Rahul Gandhi is in a habit of abusing others and his recent remarks on Veer Savarkar are the latest example of this,” Shukla told .
The BJP leader said if Rahul Gandhi is asked to spend even one week in the prison in which Veer Savarkar was kept in Andamans, he will run away to Britain and take its citizenship. “So, he does not have the moral right to comment on Veer Savarkar,” said Shukla.
Questioning the timing of Gandhi’s remarks against Savarkar which came soon after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Shukla said it proves the "kind of hatred Rahul Gandhi carries for the state".
Gandhi at an event in New Delhi on Tuesday waved a copy of the Constitution at the audience and asked if it carries the voice of (Veer) Savarkarji or if it is written anywhere in the Constitution that violence should be used.
Commenting about the silence maintained by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar, Shukla said it seems Uddhav Thackeray has become an admirer of Aurangzeb instead of Shivaji Maharaj.
“Rather than hailing heroes like Savarkar, Uddhav Thackeray has now become an admirer of Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
During the Maharashtra election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also attacked the Congress and other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) members for insulting Veer Savarkar.
He had said the MVA had taken a temporary pause from attacking Savarkar due to state elections and predicted that they would return to their old habit of abusing the national hero once the elections were over.
BJP leader Amit Malviya on Tuesday attacked Rahul Gandhi saying he has proven PM Modi right on the temporary pause on Savarkar-bashing.
“Rahul Gandhi is vile and predictable. He didn’t mention Veer Savarkar even once throughout the Maharashtra election and started spewing venom soon after the rout. Prime Minister Modi had predicted this. Credit to the people of Maharashtra for showing the abusive dynast his place,” said Malviya, national convener of the IT cell of the BJP, in a post on X.
BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Maharashtra’s Minister of Revenue, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, also hit out at Rahul Gandhi.
“The day elections are over in Maharashtra and Congress has been wiped out, Mr. Rahul Gandhi is back to abusing Veer Savarkar. Maharashtra will not tolerate this at all. I am also curious to know what their new ally has to say about this abuse of Savarkar Ji...” he said in a post on X.