Cong, BJP spar over naming of college after VD Savarkar

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashed over the central government's decision to name a Delhi University (DU) college after Hindutva idol Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to lay the foundation stone on Friday.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

While Congress leaders criticised the choice of name for Veer Savarkar College in Najafgarh, the BJP hit back alleging that the Congress now identifies itself only by "insulting great people".

The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of "glorifying those who submitted mercy petitions to the British".

The party's Rajya Sabha MP Naseer Hussain said, "The BJP is legitimising those who collaborated with the British, ignoring freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country... Many people lived for the country and hugely contributed to the freedom struggle. The BJP is giving legitimacy to those people who have written mercy petitions to the British and accepted pensions from them."