Savarkar wanted to be Britain's servant and help them: Rahul

Insisting that the country is facing a fight between ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and V D Savarkar, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Thursday that the Hindutva leader wanted to be a "servant" of the British and help them.

Rahul said Savarkar signed the mercy petition as he was scared and by doing so, he betrayed Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel among others and meant to tell them they were wrong in not signing such petitions.

His comments came at a press conference on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra's Akola, as he displayed a copy of the mercy petition signed by Savarkar urging them to release him.

Also read | Rahul Gandhi says Savarkar helped British, Uddhav Thackeray disagrees

“I will read the last line, which says 'I beg to remain, Sir, your most obedient servant' and is signed by V D Savarkar. I will translate this to Hindi. 'Sir, mein aap ka naukar rehna chahta hoon'. (I would like to remain your servant). I did not write this but Savarkar ji has written," he said.

Rahul had on Tuesday also attacked Savarkar, alleging that he used to take pension from Britishers and that he wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was. This has prompted Savarkar's grandson Ranjit to file a complaint with the police against Rahul's remarks.

The Congress leader's remarks has also hit a raw nerve with ally Shiv Sena (Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray also disapproving the remarks, saying "we have immense respect and faith for Swatyantra Veer Savarkar and it cannot be erased.” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Rahul was "shamelessly lying" about Savarkar.

"If Fadnavis ji wants to read this, let him also see. I am very clear on this, Savarkar ji has helped the British," he said.

When Savarkar signed the letter, Rahul went on to say that Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Patel were spending time in jail and they never signed any such letter. "What is the reason for writing this letter? The reason was fear. If he wasn't scared, he would not have signed the letter. The signature was a betrayal. When he signed, all leaders were betrayed and he was telling them that you were wrong and you also should sign," he said.

Asked about Congressmen joining the BJP when he is fighting the Hindutva ideology, he said a Shiv Sena MLA who was offered Rs 50 crore but did not switch sides was walking with him in the yatra while many had joined the other side.

"Many went. In a way, the Opposition is being cleansed. Those who can sell themselves for money are joining the BJP. Those who are corrupt can be bought for Rs 20, 25, 50 crore. There is no dearth of clean, honest people in this country, they will join us," he said.

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To a query about the perception that the Opposition is not successful in taking on the BJP challenge, he said that perception is superficial because the Opposition was not in control of institutions, media and judiciary.

He said he was not a soothsayer to predict what changes the yatra will bring to Congress. He also said it was wrong to compare the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Mahatma Gandhi's marches during the freedom struggle.

Queried why the yatra was not covering a large part of Uttar Pradesh, he said he wanted the yatra to cover more parts but they could not do it due to logistics issues. "I wanted the yatra to be for more days in UP. We are covering three districts for 4-5 days," he said.