BJP leader quotes Indira Gandhi while slamming Rahul's comments on Savarkar

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Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar on Thursday cited former prime minister Indira Gandhi's praise for V D Savarkar while slamming Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comments about the Hindutva ideologue.

Rahul Gandhi earlier in the day again targeted Savarkar, claiming that he had helped the British and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.

Speaking to reporters here, Shelar said, "Rahul Gandhi has made a brainless comment about Veer Savarkar and we condemn it. We wonder why Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has taken such a soft stand on the issue and destroyed his own credibility."

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The BJP leader also claimed that Rahul's grand-mother, late Indira Gandhi respected Savarkar.

"I can show you a letter by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, who described Savarkar as a remarkable son of India while asking her secretary to plan celebration of Savarkar's birth centenary," Shelar said.

Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction is the Congress' ally in Maharashtra. Thackeray, however, distanced himself from Rahul Gandhi's comments on Savarkar.