BJP takes out march against Rahul's Savarkar barb

The Mumbai unit of the BJP on Sunday took out a march on Sunday to protest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comment on Hindutva icon V D Savarkar.

Addressing the Congress' mega 'Bharat Bachao Rally' in Delhi on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi rejected the BJP's demand for an apology over his "rape in India" barb, and added that his name was Rahul Gandhi, not "Rahul Savarkar", and he will never apologise for speaking the truth.

Many BJP leaders, including city unit BJP chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha, joined the march which began from the western suburb of Borivali at 4 pm.

The march will culminate at Shivaji Park in Dadar, a distance of 25 kms.

BJP MPs Gopal Shetty and Manoj Kotak, Borivali MLA Sunil Rane and scores of the party workers are also participating in the march.

They raised slogans criticising Gandhi and hailing Savarkar.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters at the BJP office here that the then prime minister Indira Gandhi of the Congress had also hailed the legacy of Savarkar.

"Indira Gandhi's government had issued a commemorative stamp on Savarkar in 1970. Gandhi had even donated Rs 11000 from her personal account to Savarkar Trust. She had also asked the Films Division to produce a documentary film on Savarkar which she personally cleared in 1983," he said.

The former Union minister also cited a letter of Gandhi in 1980 commemorating the birth centenary celebrations of Savarkar.

"Gandhi had described Savarkar as a remarkable son of India and said his daring defiance of the British government has it's own important place in the annals of our freedom movement," Hussain claimed.