Nagpur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators, including former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, wore orange caps with "I am Savarkar" printed over them as they arrived for the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur on Monday as a mark of protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remark against VD Savarkar.


The matter pertains to Gandhi's remark at a rally where he had said that he would not apologise for his 'rape in India' remark as his name was not 'Rahul Savarkar'. "I was asked by the BJP in Parliament yesterday to apologise for the comment. I was asked to apologise for something which is right. My name is not Rahul Savarkar. My name is Rahul Gandhi. I will never apologize for truth," Gandhi had said.


The remark had sparked controversy and invited sharp criticism from political quarters.

Such a polemic has really hurt the relatives of Savarkar. His grandson Ranjit Savarkar has urged Uddhav Thackeray to beat Rahul Gandhi publicly. 

“It is good that Rahul Gandhi is not Rahul Savarkar or else we will have to hide our faces. Now, I want that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray should beat him openly as he said many times that if anyone insults Veer Savarkar, he will beat him publicly. I expect the Shiv Sena would not change its stand on Veer Savarkar (that he should get Bharat Ratna).”


The BJP only hopes Shiva Sena divorces Congress in Maharashtra.  Sreenath Sheshadri, a BJP spokesperson said, “The Shiva Sena should move out of the alliance in Maharashtra. Congress has no moral rights to continue with the Shiva Sena when a great personality like Veer Savarkar who slogged for our freedom for years together is being put down by Rahul Gandhi.” 

(With inputs from ANI)