Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) will not attend the opposition meeting and dinner called by Congress Monday evening to protest the remarks by Rahul Gandhi against Savarkar.
The decision comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray warned Rahul Gandhi in his Malegaon rally on Sunday saying they "will not tolerate insult of Savarkar".
Sanjay Raut, speaking to news agency ANI, said their party decided not to attend the meeting at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence today "because Rahul Gandhi said that I am not Savarkar, I am Gandhi".
Gandhi's statement, "My name is not Savarkar, won't apologize," seems to have caused great offense to Thackeray's party.
Rahul Gandhi during a press conference on Saturday after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha said that his name is not Savarkar but Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone.
His statement came after repeated calls by the BJP seeking his apology over various issues, including in the 2019 criminal defamation case.
Uddhav Thackeray warns Rahul Gandhi at Malegaon rally
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also slammed Rahul for the comment while addressing a rally in Malegaon.
Thackeray warned Rahul, whose party is a part of MVA in Maharashtra, that they will not tolerate any insult to Savarkar.
"I am publicly telling this to Rahul Gandhi that Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate," the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.
