Mumbai: Throwing the gauntlet, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today (Aug 25, 2004) said if Shiv Sena-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) Opposition chose to "politicise" the Veer Savarkar row then the Congress will not shy away from giving a "fitting reply" to it.

"There is no controversy over Savarkar in Maharashtra... everything is going on at the Centre. But if Sena-BJP choose to politicise it here, then we will deal with it," Shinde told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting in Mumbai.

To a query whether the Maharashtra Government will request the Centre to reinstate plaque containing Savarkar's quotes at the Cellular Jail in Andaman, the Chief Minister shot back saying, "Why should the State Government intervene in it?"

"Maharashtra Government has nothing to do with the controversy, ask those in the Centre, who had made certain comments about Savarkar," Shinde said.

Taking a dig at saffron siblings, he said they should not confine Savarkar only to his Hindutva ideology but adopt his philosophy about being rational and having a scientific outlook.

Recalling Savarkar's act of setting up a "Patit Pawan Mandir" for dalits in Ratnagiri, Shinde said the Hindutva forces instead of favouring a class-based society, should go in for an egalitarian society.

Shinde described Savarkar as a "great national leader", and a "revolutionary".