BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday demanded that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ban a booklet distributed by the Seva Dal which questions Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's credentials as a patriot. The Hindi booklet, titled "Veer Savarkar, Kitne 'Veer'?", was distributed at a camp of the Congress-affiliated organisation in Madhya Pradesh.

The book alleged that Savarkar, after his release from Andaman's Cellular Jail, received pension from the British, and he and Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse were in a physical relationship. Fadnavis, a former Maharashtra chief minister, said the Congress had exhibited its "wicked" psyche by circulating such a booklet, which underscored its "intellectual bankruptcy".