New Delhi: A day after the BJP-led Centre announced it would award the Bharat Ratna posthumously to Karpoori Thakur, the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday attacked the government, asking why the country’s highest civilian award was not conferred to Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
Addressing a news conference, Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut called the Centre’s decision a political move, reported news agency PTI.
He said that since the Narendra Modi government took charge in Delhi (in 2014), 11 people have been conferred the highest civilian award, but Savarkar has not found a place on the list.
“Our position remains the same that Veer Savarkar should be given the Bharat Ratna. Karpoori Thakur is a leader of the OBC and we are happy that he has been named for the Bharat Ratna,” Raut said, as per the PTI report.
Thakur was named for the Bharat Ratna on Tuesday on the eve of the birth centenary of the fountainhead of OBC (other backward classes) politics in Bihar.
Thakur, who passed away in 1988, was the first non-Congress socialist leader who became chief minister twice – first for seven months in December 1970 and later for two years in 1977.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Raut said that since it is a poll season, Bihar is important for the saffron party. Bihar, which sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is currently governed by Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
“BJP’s every step is for political selfishness. Key people who participated in the freedom struggle are honoured but why is Savarkar not conferred on Bharat Ratna? Why is BJP fleeing from conferring Bharat Ratna on him,” Raut asked, the PTI report added.
A polarising figure in modern Indian history, Savarkar is known as “Swatantryaveer” and is revered among several quarters in the country, especially Maharashtra, for his contribution to the freedom struggle.
However, critics charge him as a hard-line Hindutva leader.