Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao
MUMBAI, 3 OCTOBER, 2024 (GPN): Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has hit back at Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao over his remarks on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, accusing him of repeatedly insulting the freedom fighter without understanding his legacy.
Fadnavis defended Savarkar’s contributions, particularly his views on farmers and cows, while condemning what he called an ongoing campaign of misinformation, spearheaded by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking to NH on Thursday, Fadnavis said, “These people do not know anything about Savarkar. They keep insulting him”.
He emphasised that Savarkar’s views
were deeply rooted in India’s rural life, and the attacks on him, which started with Rahul Gandhi, continue with others trying to further that narrative.
The controversy erupted after Dinesh Gundu Rao claimed that despite Savarkar’s nationalist credentials, his fundamentalist ideology diverged from Indian culture. At the launch of the Kannada version of the book Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India by journalist Dhirendra K. Jha, Rao remarked that Savarkar, though a modernist in some respects, was a non-vegetarian and not opposed to cow slaughter.
Rao further asserted that Savarkar’s ideas differed sharply from those of Mahatma Gandhi, particularly on issues like beef consumption and Hinduism.
Rao also weighed in on Muhammad Ali Jinnah, labelling him a “hardcore Islamic believer” who ate pork and sought high government positions, contrasting his ideology with Savarkar’s. He urged the public to remain vigilant against the growing influence of fundamentalism represented by figures like Savarkar, while praising Gandhi’s democratic values.
Fadnavis, however, rejected these assertions, calling them part of a broader campaign to misrepresent Savarkar’s legacy.
A crackdown on cow slaughter in Maharashtra has been in place since 2014, when the BJP formed the government with the Shiv Sena, with Fadnavis as CM. In the past year, the Mahayuti government has ignored calls seeking action against the “love jihad” and “land jihad” rallies of the Sakal Hindu Samaj, despite demand by several quarters.
As Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis alleged that “vote jihad” was witnessed in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the state, his co-deputy and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said his party would reserve 10 per cent seats for minority candidates in the upcoming Assembly polls.According to sources, Ajit Pawar’s NCP has managed to bag Anushakti Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Kagal, Bandra East and Kalwa-Mumbra Assembly constituencies to field Muslim candidates amid seat-sharing talks in the Mahayuti alliance.
The NCP has also laid claim on Dhule, Bhiwandi, Mumbadevi, Malegaon and Beed constituencies to field probable Muslim candidates in these seats.
Election to the 288-member Assembly is likely to be held in Maharashtra in November.
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