Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Shiv Sena Sunday held Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in several cities in Maharashtra to protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's repeated attacks on late Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.
While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led a very well attended rally in Thane, others were organised in Mumbai, including in Dadar and Andheri West, as well as Nashik, the birthplace of Savarkar.
Tagging Gandhi in a tweet about the reception the yatra got in Andheri West, BJP MLA Ameet Satam said, Muslim brothers welcomed Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in Andheri West today. Veer Savarkar is revered irrespective of caste, creed or religion. Do you understand Rahul Gandhi?
In Thane, CM Shinde slammed Gandhi for his remarks, and mocked Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray for claiming the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray but remaining silent on the Congress leader's repeated attacks on Savarkar.
The BJP-Shiv Sena has latched on to the remarks against Savarkar to attack the Congress and also put Uddhav Thackeray on the backfoot since the undivided Sena under Balasaheb Thackeray regularly demanded the Bharat Ratna for the late Hindutva ideologue.