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 in Mumbai, 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, PTI reported.

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"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.

Also read: Focus on your work, do not let media set agenda, says Devendra Fadnavis

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. (PTI)