Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday defended Rahul Gandhi, saying that he did not target Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar but only highlighted a "historical fact'.

Addressing a press conference at Shegaon in Buldhana district of Maharashtra where the Bharat Jodo Yatra has reached, he also said that although the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction does not support Gandhi's views on Savarkar, it will not impact the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

Gandhi, during a press conference at Wadegaon in Akola district on Thursday, had alleged that Savarkar had helped the British and written a mercy petition to them out of fear. The Congress leader had earlier also said that Savarkar was a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). His remarks triggered protests, with even Thackeray saying that he did not agree with Gandhi's statements on the freedom fighter.

Ramesh said, "Gandhi had mentioned Savarkar in context of how tribal leader Birsa Munda did not compromise with the British while Savarkar signed a mercy petition, which is a fact." "Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the greatest Indians, was sentenced to six years imprisonment at Mandalay from 1908-14. Tilak did not sign a mercy petition," Ramesh, who is Congress general secretary in charge of the communications and publicity department, said.

''We don't want to get into a debate on historical personalities now as the issue needs to be discussed dispassionately and in a scholarly way by sourcing archival material,'' he said.

It was a fact that (Mahatma Gandhi's assassin) Nathuram Godse was influenced by Savarkar. It was Savarkar's ideology that was behind the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. The ideology to which Savarkar subscribed was cause of his killing, the Congress leader claimed.

Ramesh said the Congress and the Thackeray-led Sena differed on their views regarding Savarkar, but it will have no bearing on the MVA alliance, in which the grand old party, the Thackeray faction and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are constituents.

Some people have become aggressive on the issue of Savarkar and are trying to divert focus from the main issues.

"How can they deny historical facts? The two-nation theory was propagated by Savarkar. The RSS had opposed the Quit India movement. Syama Prasad Mukherjee had supported the partition of Bengal. Jan Sangh had joined hands with the Muslim League to form a government," he said.

He said the Bharat Jodo Yatra was not aimed at discussing history but present-day situation and future by focussing on the current issues of polarisation, economic disparity and political dictatorship.

On a question of threat to Rahul Gandhi from those who criticised his stand on Savarkar, Ramesh said the Congress will not compromise on Gandhi's security.

He said a west to east Bharat Jodo Yatra could be planned next year.

''It will be a hybrid yatra because of the topography where the route has jungles and rivers. This time In Akola, we could not walk 16 km because of the forest area. We had to travel to this patch in buses," he said.

He said the Congress will work on strengthening its digital platforms because it is the only means of communication with the people . The 2024 election will be fought with the help of smartphones, he said.

Ramesh said the success of the yatra showed that it was a good medium to establish a direct contact with the people on issues of price rise, unemployment and national security as debate is not allowed in Parliament.

To a question about an incident in which a different song started playing instead of the national anthem after Gandhi ended his speech at Washim in Maharashtra on Wednesday night, Ramesh said it was negligence on part of local office-bearers and accountability will be fixed.

"This incident, which shouldn't have happened, was brief and rectified. But the media which was not telecasting or writing about the yatra (till then), started focussing on us and we got free publicity," he said.

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