Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday hit out at Congress for speaking against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for vote-bank politics and said that Congressmen should be ashamed of themselves.
"For vote-bank politics, Congress party is speaking against a great personality like Veer Savarkar. Congressmen should be ashamed of themselves," said Shah addressing a rally here.
Shah's remark comes after Ranjit Savarkar, grandson of Savarkar, alleged that Congress is plotting to defame his grandfather through the party booklet which claims that the Hindu Mahasabha co-founder had a "physical relationship" with Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.
Ranjit urged the Madhya Pradesh government to ban the Congress'booklet.
He also asserted that a criminal case should be registered against the Congress Seva Dal as it was during their camp that the booklet was distributed."Congress is plotting to defame Savarkar. The party is conspiring to spread anarchy in the country by making unwarranted accusations on the freedom fighter Savarkar. The government must take an action against the Congress Seva Dal and should register a criminal case against them," said Ranjit in a press release.Ranjit has sought action from the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in this matter."A case should be registered under section 120, 500, 503, 504, 505, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Madhya Pradesh Government should ban the book," he added.The booklet titled 'Veer Savarkar Kitne Veer?' was distributed during the 10-day camp of Congress Seva Dal. Congress Seva Dal chief Lalji Desai said that the writer has written the booklet on the basis of evidence."Writer has written it on the basis of evidence. But that's not important for us whether he was gay or not. In our country today, everyone has a legal right to have their own preferences," Desai told ANI.The booklet gave a reference citing page 423 the 'Freedom at Midnight' book written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, which states that Godse had a homosexual relationship with his "political guru" Savarkar before the former turned celibate.The booklet also claimed that Savarkar encouraged his followers to rape women from minorities and pelted stones at mosques when he was 12 years old.