Signalling a major rift between the Congress and the Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray, the latter has decided to opt out of the Monday night meeting at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence over Rahul Gandhi's remarks on VD Savarkar.

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The confirmation of this came from Uddhav camp leader Sanjay Raut. The pullout comes hours after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said he considered the Hindutva ideologue as his 'idol', and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him.

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He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties -- Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- was formed to protect democracy, and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

"Savarkar is our idol, and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice," he said.

''I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country's democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election," he added.

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Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi, and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone".

Thackeray also targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He alleged that those who had no connection with the country's freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracy. Thackeray, who was addressing his second rally in Malegaon after Khed in Ratnagiri district since losing the party name and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said he was fighting to save democracy and freedom.

With Agency Inputs

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