BJP readies poll ammunition

Just in case you missed politicians debating, burning effigies and waving their footwear in the name of Veer Savarkar, the BJP has printed a...

Just in case you missed politicians debating, burning effigies and waving their footwear in the name of Veer Savarkar, the BJP has printed a 28-page booklet containing all the details.

Did you know that former member of parliament Ram Naik was 8216;8216;drenched in sweat8217;8217; for the 10 minutes he stood in the Cellular Jail cell where freedom fighter Savarkar was confined? That when Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar invited Naik to Port Blair for the inauguration of a Swatantrya Jyot sculpture minus a Savarkar quote this August, a miffed Naik was seated in the audience?

For background or 8216;8216;details and developments8217;8217; of the debate, the BJP north Mumbai has printed booklets on the 8216;8216;insult inflicted on Veer Savarkar8217;8217;, complete with photographs of Naik and Aiyar at the inauguration and of activists burning Aiyar8217;s effigy.

As many as 5,000 copies of the booklet were given to BJP workers last week.

Now a second edition is out, for sale at Rs 15.

On Monday, Naik kept the fight going. 8216;8216;Aiyar has crossed all limits of decency by comparing and equating Jinnah and Savarkar,8217;8217; the former Union minister said.

8216;8216;He needs to be taught Indian history. We8217;ll distribute the booklets to party activists. BJP workers will also sell it for Rs 15 each,8217;8217; Naik said.

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In the Marathi version, Naik repeats his much-told story of the removal of Savarkar8217;s quote from the sculpture, allegedly Aiyar8217;s idea. He starts with his visit to the jail when he was at Port Blair to inaugurate an LPG bottling project.

The visit overwhelmed him and he came up with the idea of erecting a Swatantrya Jyot sculpture, similar to the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate. The rest is history.

In the booklet

The booklet has quotes 8212; by Savarkar, Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh 8212; that Ram Naik had selected for the sculpture. The rest is Naik8217;s press statements, his letter to the Prime Minister and a notarised statement by city sculptor Uttam Pacharane that the quote was removed after the sculpture had been handed over by him.