TMC joins Oppn protest over Rahul’s disqualification; Uddhav Thackeray signals ‘cracks’ over Savarkar issue

• ‘Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated’
• ‘My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone’
• Parliament witnessed protests over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the Lok Sabha,

As expected, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s breathless tirade against Savarkar triggered crack in opposition unity in Maharashtra even as Uddhav Thackeray, who is heading the legacy of his father Bal Tackeray, said his party would not tolerate any insult to Veer Savarkar.

On Monday, the Parliament witnessed protests over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the Lok Sabha, with both Houses remaining disrupted throughout the day as for once the issue united the Opposition.

Notably, the Trinamool Congress, which has not been attending meetings convened by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge, joined the Opposition huddle and participated in a march taken out by Opposition MPs. However, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena has decided not to attend a Congress meeting on Monday. The party leaders did not attend the joint Opposition protest at the Gandhi statue and the march to Parliament. Reacting to his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi has said: “I am not Savarkar, I am Gandhi”.

On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray told the Congress his party would noot tolerate insults of Savarkar. He further said that he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar and asked the Congress leader to withhold from insulting him. Thackeray said: “Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar.”

“Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.

“The alliance of the Uddhav faction, Congress, and NCP was made to protect democracy and we need to work unitedly. Rahul Gandhi is being provoked deliberately but if we waste time in this, democracy will cease to exist,” Uddhav said.

“I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country’s democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election,” he added.

On Monday, Sanjay Raut said “Savarkar is our inspiration” and that he will try to speak to Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

Leaders of as many as 17 parties attended the meeting convened by Kharge. Although the Shiv Sena attended the meeting, it did not join the protest. Among parties that attended were Trinamool Congress, DMK, AAP, SP, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, RSP and the National Conference.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM