NAGPUR: In his bid to reclaim the hardline Hindutva turf after being accused of abandoning the party’s core ideology, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday questioned BJP on why the nation’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, was still not bestowed on Veer Savarkar. He was talking to reporters in Nagpur after attending the winter session of the legislature on Tuesday.
“When Devendra Fadnavis was CM, he had written to PM Modi with a request to bestow the honour on Savarkar. Even today he’s the CM and his demand has not been considered. Then BJP has no right to speak on Savarkar. I reiterate my demand that the nation’s highest honour be given to Savarkar,” he said.
Thackeray also called upon BJP and Congress to move beyond historical debates surrounding Jawaharlal Nehru and Vinayak Savarkar and urged them to focus on critical development issues plaguing the nation. “Both Nehru and Savarkar are historical figures who made their contributions. Today, what we need is a focus on development, addressing farmers’ issues, improving infrastructure, and resolving unemployment,” he said.
Uddhav also met and congratulated CM Devendra Fadnavis in the latter’s office at the legislature premises in Nagpur. Sena (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, Varun Sardesai and Ambadas Danve also congratulated Fadnavis on the poll win. Later, Uddhav and Fadnavis had a closed-door meeting which lasted around 10-15 minutes, Sena (UBT) functionaries said. Uddhav also met speaker Rahul Narwekar. After the meetings, there was speculation that the leader of opposition’s post could be given to Sena (UBT), which is the single largest opposition party with 20 MLAs. This was Uddhav’s first meeting with Fadnavis after the assembly polls which saw a bitter war of words between the two.
Uddhav said, “I have the expectation of a cultured political atmosphere in Maharashtra. We could not win the polls, they won the polls and have formed the govt. Naturally, we expect this govt to work in the interest of the state and take decisions for the benefit of the state. The rest of the questions on the results are there in the minds of people. We will keep raising our voice about that.”
Aaditya said, “We met CM Fadnavis. We want to have cultured politics and work in the interest of the state for the next five years. So we congratulated them. We have political differences, but there is no personal enmity.”
Congress silent on Uddhav’s demand
Uddhav Thackeray’s demand for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar was met with silence from Congress on Tuesday. Till late evening, Congress had not reacted to the politically sensitive faultline among the allies. Thackeray’s demand came barely days after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha criticised Savarkar for his views on the Constitution, and for having apologised to the British.