NCP calls for withdrawal of Seva Dal's booklet on Savarkar

The NCP, a key Congress ally, Saturday called for withdrawal of a controversial Seva Dal booklet which claims that Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse were in a physical relationship.

NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said that since Savarkar was not alive, it was wrong to make such a claim.

The Hindi booklet, titled "Veer Savarkar, Kitne 'Veer'?", was distributed at a camp of Seva Dal, a frontal organisation of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh recently.

The booklet also questions Savarkar's credentials as a patriot and his reputation for valour. It also claimed that Savarkar received money from the British after he was released from Andaman's Cellular Jail.

"The booklet should be withdrawn. You may have ideological differences with the person concerned. But it is not right to make such personal remarks against one who is not around," Malik told PTI over phone.

The NCP and Congress are sharing power with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena had targeted the Congress over the booklet.

"Veer Savarkar was a great man and will remain a great man. A section keeps talking against him. This shows the dirt in their mind," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had said on Friday.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had called for a ban on the booklet saying the Congress had exhibited its "wicked" psyche by circulating it.

Last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's jibe that his name was not "Rahul Savarkar" and hence he would not seek apology (about his remark on rape) had riled the Shiv Sena, his party's new-found ally in Maharashtra.