Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Friday sought to corner the Congress by reminding it of what former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had to say about Veer Savarkar, whose contribution in the freedom struggle is being fiercely debated ever since the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra pitched his name for the country’s highest civilian award — Bharat Ratna.

The BJP calls Savarkar a “great freedom fighter” whose contribution to the freedom movements is immense whereas the opposition parties including Congress believe that he was neither a revolutionary nor was he anyway involved in the struggle when the grand old party was leading the freedom movements in the 1930s and 40s.

However, the BJP has slammed the Congress for whitewashing the history of Savarkar and pointed towards what Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had to say about the Hindutva ideologue. Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh today shared a letter written by Indira Gandhi in which she described Savarkar as “a remarkable son of India”.

“Veer Savarkar’s daring defiance of the British Government has its own important place in the annals of our freedom movement. I wish success to the plans to celebrate the birth centenary of this remarkable son of India,” Gandhi said in her letter to Pandit Bakhle dated May 20, 1980.

On the day the Maharashtra BJP announced its decision to recommend Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari launched a scathing attack on the saffron party and said the government considers giving Bharat Ratna to Savarkar in the year of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, “then all I have to say is – God save this country.”

However, a day later, Congress softened its stand saying that it wasn’t against Savarker but his philosophy on Hindutva. “So we (Congress) are not against Savarkarji…we are not in favour of the Hindutva ideology that Savarkarji stood for,” former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. He further said that the case of Bharat Ratna for Savarkar will be settled by the government when the case comes before the committee which looks into such matters.