You stop, we stop: Jairam Ramesh to BJP on Savarkar row

New Delhi, November 20

Amid the row over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the Congress on Sunday said it would stop commenting on saffron ideologues the day the BJP stopped spreading falsehoods about Congress leaders.

“Let there be no debate on this matter after what I am going to say. The day the BJP and RSS stop speaking falsehoods about our leaders, we will stop saying truths about their leaders,” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said today when asked to comment on the issue.

Issue over now

The day the BJP and RSS stop speaking falsehoods about our leaders, we will stop saying truths about their leaders. — Jairam Ramesh, AICC General Secretary

Jairam was responding to comments by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi who, while referring to Savarkar’s letter to the British stating ‘your obedient servant’ mentioned that even Chhatrapati Shivaji had written six letters of apology to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

“Now we know the real face of the BJP. You heard what Sudhandhu Trivedi said. He is my Rajya Sabha colleague. We keep meeting. This issue is now over. I have been making statements for three days. The day BJP-RSS stop making false statements about Congress leaders we will stop making truthful statements about their leaders,” said Ramesh.

Rahul Gandhi had recently in Maharashtra’s Akola flagged a Savarkar letter where, he said, the latter “begged for mercy and called himself an obedient servant of the British.”

The issue triggered a row with the Congress ally in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, taking strong exception.