Savarkar our idol, won't tolerate his insult: Uddhav Thackeray tells Rahul Gandhi; urges him to fight for democracy

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his idol and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from insulting himHe 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 itAddressing a rally in the Muslimdominated textile town of Malegaon in Nashik district of north Maharashtra Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul GandhiSavarkar 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 saidI want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our countrys 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 addedGandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday a day after a court in Gujarats 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 anyoneThackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo YatraRahul Gandhi spoke well at his press conference yesterday He raised valid questions about whom does Rs 20000 crore belong But the government doesnt want to answer he saidDuring his press conference on Saturday Gandhi said the moot questions remain that who invested Rs 20000 crore in Adani shell firms and what is the businessmans relationship with the prime ministerTargeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Thackeray alleged that those who have no connection with the countrys freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracyIN PHOTOS Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde meets MNS chief Raj ThackerayThackeray who was addressing his second rally here 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 freedomThe fight is not about me becoming the chief minister again he saidThackeray also said NCP leader Anil Deshmukhs sixyearold granddaughter was questioned by probe agencies and even Lalu Prasad Yadavs pregnant daughterinlaw was quizzed till she faintedIf you criticise those in power police will be after you he saidModi is not India Did our freedom fighters lay down their lives for this he askedThe former CM wondered how good and honest people in the BJP were tolerating the corrupt people brought into their fold from other partiesHitting out at CM Shinde Thackeray said he doesnt regret losing the chief ministers post but a government doing good work was shamelessly toppledFarmers are facing a lot of hardships and the Shinde government is doing nothing to ease their problems he allegedThackeray said he has been robbed of his partys name and symbol but traitors can never rob him of the love and affection of the peopleHe said his government has taken several steps for the development of the textile sector in Malegaon and farmers and during the Covid19 pandemicDuring the pandemic I had spoken to the religious heads in Malegaon and everyone here cooperated with the government initiatives to control the spread of the virus he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever