Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday (February 9) took a dig at the Centre for “forgetting” Hindutva icon and freedom fighter Veer Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray during the announcement of Bharat Ratna awards. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh as well 'Green Revolution' pioneer M S Swaminathan will be conferred the Bharat Ratna.
What did Raut say?
“Prime Minister Modi who calls himself Hindutva-vadi has once again forgotten Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray. First two and now three leaders have been honoured with Bharat Ratna in barely one month. However, neither Veer Savarkar nor Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray who deserve Bharat Ratna more than anyone else have been fully ignored,” Sanjay Raut posted on X.
Raut said that the norm is that Bharat Ratna is awarded to three individuals in a year, but the Modi government announced five names this year. He cited the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a reason for the same.
“After Karpuri Thakur and L K Advani, today Chaudhary Charan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao and M S Swaminathan have been honoured with Bharat Ratna. Other leaders are waiting too,” he added.
Bharat Ratna awards this year
The government had earlier named former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a champion of backward empowerment, and L K Advani, a founding BJP member credited with charting the course of its rise through the 1990s, for the country's highest civilian honour.
At five, one more than the four announced in 1999, this is the maximum number of Bharat Ratnas announced for a year.
(With PTI inputs)
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