Nagpur: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has broken his silence on Savarkar’s role in freedom struggle.

Savarkar is not a national issue, but his role in the freedom movement of India can’t be ignored

NCP chief said though Savarkar is not a national issue, but his role in the freedom movement of India can’t be ignored.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had refused to apologise over his alleged comment on Modi community, saying he isn’t Savarkar.

Following his remarks, the MP from Wayanad was stripped of his Lok Sabha membership. “I am a Gandhi and not Savarkar and Gandhis do not apologise,” he was quoted as saying during a press conference a day after his his conviction in a defamation case in a Surat court.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur on Saturday, Sharad Pawar said, ” We never opposed Savarkar, but were always opposed to Hindu Mahasabha.”

Even Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction has expressed displeasure over Rahul’s attack on Savarkar and skipped Congress’ Opposition meet.

The debate on Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar’s role in India’s freedom movement is still being debated even decades after his death. Former Congress MP and president Rahul Gandhi continues to attack Savarkar publicly over the latter alleged mercy petitions to Britishers before independence.