'Everything fine', says Sanjay Raut after meeting Sonia, Rahul over Savarkar remark
New Delhi, Mar 29: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday met former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and said "everything is fine", signalling an end to the row over V D Savarkar.
The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena was upset over Rahul Gandhi's strident attack of Savarkar, a revolutionary leader revered in Maharashtra, leading to friction in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi coalition with the Congress and NCP in the state.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had asked Rahul Gandhi to tone down the criticism of Savarkar and reminded the Congress leader that the real fight of the opposition parties was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
"Met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Many important issues were discussed. Everything is fine. There is nothing to worry," Raut said on Twitter.
Raut had spoken with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday after the intervention by Pawar.
"The opposition is united in Maharashtra as well as in the country," Raut said to questions about opposition unity in Maharashtra.
On Tuesday, Raut said he had raised the Savarkar issue in his talks with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and MVA partners are on the same page on this matter.
"MVA alliance is intact. If anyone thinks the MVA will break apart, they are wrong," Raut said.
Gandhi is learnt to have assured Raut he would avoid any critical reference to Savarkar.
Pawar raised the issue during a meeting of opposition leaders convened by Kharge on Monday and made it clear that targeting Savarkar would not help the MVA.
As the BJP stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi and sought his apology for "maligning" India on his recent visit to the UK, the former Lok Sabha member from Wayanad said at a press conference on Saturday that he was not Savarkar and would not apologise.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had slammed Gandhi for his attack on Savarkar and said his outfit will not tolerate any insult of the freedom fighter.
The Thackeray faction had skipped the meeting convened by Kharge as a mark of protest against Gandhi's remarks targeting Savarkar.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
