Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had 'physical relationship' with Nathuram Godse, says Congress Seva Dal booklet in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: A booklet, which was distributed during the 10-day camp of Congress Seva Dal, has claimed that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had "physical relationship" with the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse. Congress Seva Dal chief Lalji Desai said that the writer has written the booklet on the basis of evidence.

"Writer has written it on the basis of evidence. But that`s not important for us whether he was gay or not. In our country today, everyone has a legal right to have their own preferences," Desai told ANI. The booklet, titled `Veer Savarkar Kitne Veer?` gave a reference citing page 423 the `Freedom at Midnight` book written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, which states that Godse had a homosexual relationship with his "political guru" Savarkar before the former turned celibate.

The booklet also claimed that Savarkar encouraged his followers to rape women from minorities and pelted stones at mosques when he was 12 years old. BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma accused Congress of defaming people patriots. "Congress wanted to portray Savarkar as anti-Muslim. Congress has followed the Muslim appeasement policy. Savarkar was a patriot. This is non-sense. They are doing character assassination of patriots. Congress leaders should stop defaming patriot like Savarkar. Congress never liked freedom fighters," he told reporters here.