Rahul Gandhi cannot face torture in prison like Savarkar did: Fadnavis

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over 'My name is not Rahul Savarkar' remark, stating that the later cannot face torture in the prison the way Hindu ideologue Veer Savarkar did.

"Rahul Gandhi's statement is shameful, maybe he does not know about Savarkar. He faced torture for 12 years in the cells of Andaman jail, Rahul Gandhi cannot do it for even 12 hours," Fadnavis told ANI while responding to Rahul's remark on Savarkar.

He said, "Just putting Gandhi in your name doesn't make you Gandhi."

Lambasting at Congress coalition partner Shiv Sena, he said: "The kind of people Shiv Sena has to deal with to remain in power is very clear. Maharashtra and country will never tolerate the insult to Savarkar."

Stating that earlier Shiv Sena used to react very sharply, he asked, "why have they gone soft now?"

Addressing a rally earlier today, Rahul Gandhi said he would not apologize for his "rape in India" remark as his name is not Rahul Savarkar.

"I was asked by the BJP in Parliament yesterday to apologize for the comment. I was asked to apologize for something which is right. My name is not Rahul Savarkar. My name is Rahul Gandhi. I will never apologize for truth," Gandhi said.

Reacting to Gandhi's statement, Savarkar's grandson Ranjit has said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray should beat Gandhi publicly for 'insulting' his grandfather."I want Uddhav Thackeray beat Rahul Gandhi openly as he said many times that if anyone insults Savarkar, he will beat him publicly," he said.