india

Updated: Oct 22, 2019 04:41 IST

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday described Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, also known as Veer Savarkar, as an accomplished man, days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced recommending his name for the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.

“I personally don’t subscribe to Savarkar’s ideology but that doesn’t take away the fact that he was an accomplished man who played part in our freedom struggle, fought for Dalit rights and went to jail for the country. #NeverForget,” Singhvi tweeted.

Singhvi posted another tweet that said, “The strength of Indian thinking has been inclusive. Many strands of the freedom movement have existed — one cnot agree with the jingoism or violent elements of #Savarkar’s nationalism nor with his vicious anti #Gandhism but one can accept that he was imbued by nationalist motives.”

Singhvi’s comment came days after Union home minister Amit Shah said Savarkar was the first person to call 1857 rebellion as India’s first independence struggle. Speaking at a rally in Maharashtra last week, Shah said, “Had it not been for Veer Savarkar, the rebellion of 1857 would not have become history, we would have seen it from the point of view of Britishers.”

The BJP had released its manifesto for the Maharashtra state polls, promising that, if re-elected, its government would recommend the names of Savarkar and social reformers Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule for the Bharat Ratna.

A Congress spokesperson refused to comment on the tweet.