Amid the row triggered by Rahul Gandhi’s comment last week about VD Savarkar, Sanjay Raut – a senior leader in ex Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, which is allied with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party – seemed to offer Gandhi an olive branch. Raut said he had inquired after his health – the Sena strongman was in a Mumbai jail for over three months in connection with a money laundering case.
“Rahul ji called at night even though he was busy with (the yatra)… asked about my health. ‘We were worried about you,’ he said. It is only human to feel sad that a political colleague was framed in a false case and tortured for 110 days in jail,” Raut tweeted in Marathi.
The Rajya Sabha MP also posted a longer English note, writing: “In spite of strong differences of opinion on some issues, inquiring about your political colleague is a sign of humanity… in times of political bitterness such gestures are becoming rare…”
Raut went on to praise the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra and declared, “Rahul ji is focusing on love and compassion… hence it is getting a massive response…”
The Sena leader took a swipe at ‘friends’ in the opposition BJP – the formerly undivided Sena’s ally till the two broke up after the 2019 election.
“I have friends in BJP as well but they were happy when I was in jail…” he said.
The phone call and response have been seen as efforts to deflect talk of a rift between the unlikely allies amid criticism of Thackeray and his ‘soft’ stance in dealing with the Congress.
Gandhi’s comment – that Savarkar ‘wrote mercy petitions to the British’ – had been pounced upon by the BJP and the Sena faction led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Speaking after Gandhi’s first remark, Uddhav Thackeray appeared to send the Congress a veiled warning, and spoke of the ‘immense respect’ his Sena has for the controversial figure.
Hours later Gandhi doubled down on his comment, declaring, “I am very clear he (Savarkar) helped the British…” but also adding this caveat, “… this is my opinion about Savarkar ji.”
The relationship between Thackeray’s Sena and the Congress is key given that Mumbai will hold a civic body election next year – an exercise both hope will be the first step in defeating the BJP and returning to power in the state.