Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) will not attend the opposition meeting and dinner called by Congress Monday evening to protest the remarks by Rahul Gandhi against Savarkar, reports said.
Sanjay Raut, speaking to news agency ANI, said their party decided not to attend the meeting at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence today "because Rahul Gandhi said that I am not Savarkar, I am Gandhi."
The decision comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray warned Rahul Gandhi in his Malegaon rally on Sunday saying they "will not tolerate insult of Savarkar."
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone."