Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that the Centre’s decision to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna award on former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur was politically motivated. The Shiv Sena UBT leader also slammed the Narendra Modi government for not conferring the award on Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar.
Clarifying that the Shiv Sena UBT is not against the Bharat Ratna given to Thakur, Mr. Raut said that the BJP’s intention behind it is only political. “Lok Sabha elections are near and Bihar is an important state for the BJP. Karpoori Thakur is a leader of the OBC and we are happy that he has been named for the Bharat Ratna. But the BJP’s every decision is driven by their political agenda,” he said.
Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats. In 2019, the BJP won 17 seats in the state and its alliance partners Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party had won 16 and six seats respectively. However, this time the BJP faces a bigger challenge in the state as the JDU is now party of the opposition INDIA bloc.
Mr. Raut also questioned why the the country’s highest civilian award has not been conferred on Savarkar. “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,” the Shiv Sena UBT leader said.
The Maharashtra government has twice recommended to the Centre — in August 2018 and September 2019 — to confer India’s highest civilian honour on Savarkar. On both occasions, the government of BJP and Shiv Sena alliance was in power.
Mr. Raut said that his party’s stand is still the same. “Key people who participated in the freedom struggle are honoured but why has Savarkar been ignored? Why is BJP running away from conferring Bharat Ratna on him?” he said.
