"Won't Tolerate Insult Of National Icons": Devendra Fadnavis On Savarkar Remark

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said insult of national icons will not be tolerated and announced action against a Congress mouthpiece for "insulting" late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.

On Wednesday, Congress legislators demanded action against right-wing activist Sambhaji Bhide for his alleged controversial remarks against Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking in the assembly, Mr Fadnavis said a case was registered against Bhide in Amravati and police will take his voice samples.

"A case has been filed against Sambhaji Bhide by the Amravati police. Insult to national icons will not be tolerated," said Mr Fadnavis, who handles the Home Ministry.

An FIR was registered against Bhide, the founder of the Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan outfit, for allegedly making offensive remarks about Mahatma Gandhi's lineage during his speech, last week, police said.

Bhide is yet to be arrested.

"Bhide made an activist (of his outfit) read the controversial portion from a book 'The Koran and the Fakir'. No recording of that meeting is available hence police will take voice samples (of Bhide)," Mr Fadnavis said.

He said Bhide works for the cause of Hindutva but remarks against Mahatma Gandhi will not be tolerated.

"Similarly, action will be taken against Congress mouthpiece 'Shidori' for objectionable writings against VD Savarkar and a case will be filed," he added.

The issue of Bhide's remarks on Mahatma Gandhi was raised in the assembly by Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan who demanded a motion of condemnation be admitted.

However, Speaker Rahul Narwekar rejected this demand.

Another Congress MLA Yashomati Thakur told the House that Bhide's supporters had threatened her (for demanding his arrest).

"I assure full security for Yashomati Thakur. The person who threatened her will be traced," Mr Fadnavis said.

Mr Chavan said he had also received a threat over the issue and the person was arrested, and given bail.

In the legislative council, Congress MLC Ashok Jagtap condemned the remarks made by Bhide and demanded a discussion on the matter.

He said Bhide had made controversial remarks in the past and asked why he had still not been arrested. Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi said on the one hand, the government is taking action against some people for keeping the status of Aurangzeb on social media, but on the other hand, no action was initiated against Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar for visiting the Mughal emperor's grave in Aurangabad.

Mr Fadnavis replied saying he had appealed to Ambedkar against glorifying the Mughal emperor.

"Aurangazeb was a ruler who died in Aurangabad and was buried there. It (his tomb) is a protected monument. We are a democracy. Creating communal discord is a crime not visiting his grave," Mr Fadnavis added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)