'Rahul can't be a Savarkar even if he takes 100 births'

Deeply hurt with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comments on V D Savarkar, the family of the revolutionary freedom fighter said that that the Centre and Maharashtra government need to take action against him.

"Rahul Gandhi said he is not Rahul Savarkar...he is correct... he cannot be a Savarkar even if he takes 100 births," said V D Savarkar's grandson Ranjit Savarkar.

He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray to take action against Gandhi.

The grandson of V D Savarkar is also contemplating meeting Thackeray.

"Governments would come and go but such insults should not be tolerated," he added.

Ranjit Savarkar is also weighing options to file a defamation case against Gandhi.

Gandhi's statement has put the Sena-NCP-Congress government in a mess as the Shiv Sena had earlier demanded that the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, be conferred upon V D Savarkar.

Ranjit Savarkar, who is also the Chairman of Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, said that that the comments from Gandhi are unfortunate and he is habitual to making such statements.

"We should not insult our freedom fighters and leaders...Shiv Sena should remove Congress ministers and run a minority government as BJP is not going to vote against them," he said.

Ranjit Savarkar said that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj a "lootera" but it sparked anger and he had to apologise.