Sharad Pawar tells Rahul Gandhi Savarkar was not RSS; real fight with Modi, BJP

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is believed to have had a word with Rahul Gandhi on Monday in the meeting of the opposition leaders convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in which Pawar apparently told Rahul Gandhi that the real fight is with the BJP and Narendra Modi -- while his Savarkar comment is deflecting from the main issue and upsetting the allies in Maharashtra. Pawar also told Rahul Gandhi that Savarkar was never a member of the RSS and underscored that the real fight of the opposition parties was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, PTI reported. The meeting of the opposition leaders was not attended by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who was miffed at Rahul Gandhi's Savarkar comment. Following Sharad Pawar's intervention, however, there has been a thaw as Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh confirmed that Uddhav Sena's support is with the Congress as the party is leading the opposition parties over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Read | 19 parties supporting us, Rahul Gandhi not worried about bungalow: Congress

Sharad Pawar said in the meeting that Savarkar is a revered figure in Maharashtra and Rahul Gandhi targetting Savarkar would not help the alliance in Maharashtra.

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What is the Savarkar row?

In his first press conference after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said, "My name is not Savarkar. my name is Gandhi and Gandhis do not apologise." He was answering a question on apologising for his comments. Though this is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi spoke against Savarkar, the comments add fuel to the ongoing row and drew flak. Uddhav Thackeray said his party will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar. "Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate," Uddhav said.

Uddhav Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said Savarkar was a freedom fighter, and social reformer. They did not attend Monday's meeting because of that issue, but Raut said he spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge and was supposed to talk to Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.