'Rahul Gandhi should be punished for his comments on Maharashtra's deity Savarkar': Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde while speaking in Assembly on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that he should be punished for his comments on V D Savarkar. 

“Savarkar is not only Maharashtra's deity but is an idol for the whole country and Rahul Gandhi has defamed him… today also, he said that I am not Savarkar who will apologise. What does he think of Savarkar? He must be punished for this,” said Shinde.

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. 

Rahul often targets Savarkar

Gandhi has often targeted late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.

At the presser, he said that he had made appeals that he be allowed to speak in Parliament but was not given permission.

"Wrote to the Speaker twice, then went to him personally and said 'you are the protector of democracy, allow me to speak', he smiles and says 'I can't do it'. If you cannot do it, who can do it, I may have to go to Modi ji then but he will not allow me to speak," Gandhi said.

"So, my point is that, democracy is finished in this country, people cannot speak what is on their minds, institutions in this country are being attacked and the mechanism of that attack is the relationship between Narendra Modi and Adani," the Congress leader said.

Rahul says determined to keep asking questions on Adani

In his remarks at the presser, Gandhi said he will keep asking questions on the Adani issue.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case.

The disqualification from Lok Sabha will bar Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.