BJP asks Uddhav Thackeray to clarify his stand on Karnataka move to drop chapters on Savarkar, Hedgewar from textbooks

Devendra Fadnavis said the revision in school textbooks in Karnataka was expected after the Congress returned to power in the southern state.

Senior BJP leaders from Maharashtra on Friday described the Karnataka government’s move to revise school textbooks as minority appeasement and asked Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to clarify his stand on the matter.

The Congress-led Karnataka government on Thursday approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of Classes 6 to 10 in the state for this academic year by removing the chapters on RSS founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar among others.

While Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) is a partner in the Maharashtra opposition bloc of Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprises the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), former ally BJP has often accused him of veering away from the Hindutva ideology.

Talking to reporters here, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the revision in school textbooks in Karnataka was expected after the Congress returned to power in the southern state.

The Congress can remove Savarkar and Hedgewar from textbooks but not from the hearts and minds of people. In Maharashtra, the Opposition wants to replicate the Karnataka model. I want to ask Uddhav Thackeray what is his stand on this issue, he asked. It is clear that Thackeray has compromised on his ideology for the sake of power, Fadnavis said.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis’s party colleague and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Thackeray should clear his stand on the textbook issue as well as the Karnataka government’s decision to repeal the anti-conversion law brought in by the previous government.

Apart from dropping chapters on Savarkar and Hedgewar, the Karnataka government also plans to include lessons on social reformer and educator Savitribai Phule, Jawaharlal Nehru’s letters to Indira Gandhi and poetry on Dr B R Ambedkar in the textbooks.