Editing Bal Thackeray (section)

===Savarkar===
Thackeray defended [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]] against criticism and praised him as a great leader. In 2002, when [[President of India|President]] [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]] unveiled a portrait of Savarkar in the presence of [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]], the [[Indian National Congress]] opposed the unveiling of the portrait and boycotted the function. Thackeray criticised the opposition and said, "Who is [Congress president and Leader of the Opposition] [[Sonia Gandhi]] to object to the portrait? What relation does she have with the country? How much does she know about the history and culture of India?". Years later, when Congress General Secretary [[Digvijaya Singh]] made a statement that Savarkar was allegedly the first one to suggest the [[two-nation theory]] that led to [[The Partition|the partition]], Thackeray rejected the statement of Singh.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/thackeray-defends-savarkar-over-digvijays-statement/articleshow/7396685.cms |title=Thackeray defends Savarkar over Digvijay's statement |date=31 January 2011|work=[[The Economic Times]] |access-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925142133/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/thackeray-defends-savarkar-over-digvijays-statement/articleshow/7396685.cms |archive-date=25 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/05bal.htm |title=Savarkar was a great leader: Thackeray |work=Rediff.com |access-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021170309/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/05bal.htm |archive-date=21 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>