Veer Savarkar wrote mercy petition to British, 'begged' to remain their servant: Rahul Gandhi

Reacting to this, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said his party has "immense respect" for VD Savarkar and that he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (November 17) once again targeted Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and stated that he helped the British. The Congress leader also said that he wrote a mercy petition to the then rulers.

Speaking to reporters during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi also presented a paper to the media persons, claiming it was a letter written by Veer Savarkar to the British. He also said that Savarkar had helped the Britishers.

"I will read the last line, which says 'I beg to remain your most obedient servant' and is signed by VD Savarkar," Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said he was of the view that Savarkar signed the letter out of fear and in doing so, betrayed Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru and other leaders of the freedom struggle. 

Earlier, during a rally in Washim district organised as part of his 150-day long foot march, Rahul Gandhi said Savarkar is a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"He was jailed in Andaman for two-three years and started writing mercy petitions," the Congress MP had said.

Reacting to this, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said his party has "immense respect" for VD Savarkar and that he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.

His remarks came days after Rahul claimed that Savarkar wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was. The former Congress president had also said that Savarkar used to take pensions from the British and work against the Congress.