As a gesture of support for Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday updated his social media accounts and placed Savarkar’s pictures on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as profile pictures. The gesture came in accordance with the ongoing controversy following Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar that “My name is not Savarkar, won’t apologise” Gandhi was disqualified on March 24 after a court in Surat in Gujarat sentenced him to two years in jail in a defamation case.

“What are you (Thackeray) going to do when you say you are not going to tolerate Savarkar’s insult. You need to show that courage,” Shinde told reporters. Shinde said Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray had launched a “joda mara abhiyaan” (hitting with slippers) in 2004 against the then Union Minister and Congressman Mani Shankar Aiyar for his remarks against Savarkar. “Those talking about Hindutva, their MLAs saying we will not tolerate Savarkar’s insult were quiet for (the sake of) politics and Maha Vikas Aghadi. This is their double standards,” Shinde alleged.

At a rally on Sunday, Thackeray said he considered Savarkar as his “idol”, and had asked Gandhi to refrain from “insulting” him. “By making defamatory statements against Savarkar, the sympathy gained by Rahul Gandhi will start ebbing. This will, for sure, put the Maharashtra Congress in a uncomfortable position,” an editorial in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ had said on Monday. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. To become like Savarkar, one needs to sacrifice and have love for the country, Shinde said. Shinde also dubbed Gandhi’s criticism in the United Kingdom of the Narendra Modi Government as treason. Gandhi had criticised the country and it democracy there, Shinde alleged.