Gandhis, Sanjay Raut meet to end rift Over Savarkar

New Delhi: Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut in a bid to mend the rift over Rahul Gandhi's comments about V D Savarkar.

There are indications that Raut conveyed to the Gandhis that insulting Savarkar will hurt the important task of opposition unity as Shiv Sena (UBT) considers Savarkar as "revolutionary freedom fighter" and "reformer", and that such comments won't be politically productive even for Congress in Maharashtra.

It was also pointed out how Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has now announced a yatra in memory of Savarkar by using Rahul's comments as a diversionary tactic from the state government's incumbency issues, which the opposition MVA alliance has been highlighting.


Given that Rahul Gandhi has been citing his comments about Savarkar as an "ideological" positioning, Raut is also believed to have pointed out that Savarkar was against RSS.

While all sides are believed to have stressed on the need for opposition unity, Gandhi is now expected to go cautious on Savarkar.