Why no Bharat Ratna for Savarkar? questions Shiv Sena (UBT)

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday attacked the BJP-led Centre for not conferring Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. Addressing a news conference in the city, Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay Raut called the Centre's decision to honour former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur with the award posthumously a political move.

Since the Narendra Modi government came into power in 2014, 11 people have been conferred the highest civilian award, but Savarkar has not found a place on the list, said Raut. 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. His first term lasted for seven months in December 1970 and later for two years in 1977. "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.

"Since it's the year of the Lok Sabha elections, Bihar is important for the BJP," Raut said. Bihar, which sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is currently governed by Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal. "The BJP's actions are driven by political self-interest at every turn. Why are key figures from the freedom struggle honoured while Savarkar has not been bestowed with the Bharat Ratna, and why does the BJP hesitate to confer this recognition upon him?" Raut asked.

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.

40
No of MPs Bihar sends to LS