Bharat Ratna given to Karpoori Thakur for Bihar votes in 2024 Lok Sabha elections: Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray. File Pic

The Narendra Modi government has conferred Bharat Ratna on former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur to get votes from the eastern state in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday, reported the PTI.

Addressing a gathering of Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray claimed the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was the forerunner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had opposed Thakur's decision to give 26 per cent reservation to backward classes in government jobs, as per the PTI.

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"But now the BJP wants votes in the Lok Sabha polls from Bihar so announced the Bharat Ratna for him posthumously. I am happy his (Thakur's) work is being acknowledged after so many years," Uddhav Thackeray said, according to the PTI.

The BJP announced Dr S Swaminathan's name for the Bharat Ratna but has failed to implement the recommendation made by a commission headed by him on increasing farm income, Uddhav Thackeray further said.

People can see through this hollowness, Uddhav Thackeray claimed.

The Union government announced five names for the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, this year.

They are former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist and father of India's food revolution Dr S Swaminathan, Karpoori Thakur, a champion of backward empowerment, and BJP stalwart L K Advani.

At five, one more than the four announced in 1999, this is the maximum number of Bharat Ratnas announced for a year.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leaders led by Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala Saturday met with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray amid a stalemate in seat-sharing negotiations for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra State Congress head Nana Patole and Mumbai unit president Varsha Gaikwad accompanied Chennithala to Thackeray's residence, Matoshree, in suburban Bandra.

The meeting also saw the presence of Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut. Both parties, part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), have encountered challenges as they assert their claims over specific constituencies, particularly in Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) had previously stated its intention to contest no fewer than 23 out of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats.

(with PTI inputs)