Rahul Gandhi targets Savarkar at Wayanad event; says 'A traitor can never be a patriot'

On his 2-day visit to Kerala, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, invoked freedom fighter VD Savarkar again - terming him a 'traitor'. Lamenting that BJP had hung Mahatma Gandhi's photo opposite Savarkar's photo at Parliament house, Gandhi said 'a traitor can never be a patriot'. Gandhi said these remarks while inaugurating Chundakara-Arinchermala-Chundakunnu road under Centre's PMGSY (rural road development scheme) in Kalpetta.

Rahul Gandhi: 'Savarkar is a traitor'

"We have imposters in power in Delhi. The ideology which helped British rule India is now trying to propogate it as the ideology of new India. When our leaders were in jail fighting the British, their leaders were signing agreements with the British," he said.

Railing on Savarkar, he added, "They have a put a picture of Savarkar opposite Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament House. On one side, the man who never surrendered to the British, who spent years in jail. On the other side, is the man who said he will never fight the British. A patriot can become a traitor, by making a mistake. But a traitor can never be a patriot. That is who Veer Savarkar was. BJP does drama on Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Ambedkar, Subhash Chandra Bose because their leader was a traitor". 

Rahul Gandhi has often slammed Hindutva ideologue - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, criticising him for writing mercy pleas to the British while being jailed in Andaman during India's freedom movement. Gandhi has often irked Maharashtra parties - NCP & Shiv Sena and BJP with his railing of Savrakar. He had once refused to apologise for his 'Rape in India' comment, asserting he was 'Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar' - alluding to Savarkar's alleged apology.

The Congress has often clashed with its ideological polar opposite Shiv Sena since the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance over issues like Hindutva, CAA, NRC, Ram Janmabhoomi, Savarkar, COVID-19 etc, with NCP playing the peacemaker. Congress has often mocked the RSS leader referring to the mercy petition filed by Savarkar when jailed by the British in Andaman jail. Sena, on the other hand, has batted for a Bharat Ratna for Savarkar and has said those insulting Savarkar should be jailed.