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Journalism of Courage
A day after allies Congress and Shiv Sena found themselves at odds over Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh Friday said the parties had “agreed to disagree” over the issue. Ramesh said he had spoken to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who “refuted the impression that it will weaken the Maha Vikas Aghadi” alliance in Maharashtra.
“I spoke to Sanjay Raut today. We agreed to disagree. He refuted the impression that it will weaken the MVA. It won’t affect MVA. These are the issue of having different viewpoints. We don’t distort history. We don’t rewrite and we don’t change history,” Ramesh said. “MVA is a three-year-old alliance. We joined MVA on the common minimum programme. I asked him whether this issue will destabilise MVA. He stated that both issues are different,” he added.
“We know that our posters will be torn. It has happened in Karnataka as well. But people have answered it,” Ramesh said, referring to his party’s feud with BJP in Karnataka.
“Savarkar and Jinnah introduced the two-nation theory and this is history cannot be denied. Secondly, RSS opposed the 1942 Quit India movement… [this] is also history. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee always advocated the partition of Bengal. This history needs to be discussed with an unbiased mind. Not on social media and WhatsApp,” Ramesh added.
Ramesh’s conversation with Raut came a day after the latter said Rahul’s statement on Savarkar would “cause cracks in the MVA alliance”. Raut had said, “The MVA would not collapse. It would certainly cause bitterness… there will be cracks in our alliance which is not a good sign.”
Gandhi sparked controversy during the Bharat Jodo Yatra after he commented that Savarkar had helped the British and remained loyal to them. “Despite the British offering him land, Birsa Munda refused to bow, he chose death. We, the Congress, consider him our idol. For the BJP and RSS, Savarkar ji, who wrote mercy petitions to the British and accepted pension, is an idol,” he said in an event in Maharashtra’s Wasim district.
His remark had triggered reactions from the Shiv Sena, with party chief Uddhav Thackeray distancing himself from the idea. “We do not agree with what Rahul Gandhi said about Veer Savarkar. We respect and love Savarkar,” he had said.
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