Vd Savarkar Bharat Ratna

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut targeted the Centre for "forgetting" Hindutva icon and freedom fighter VD Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray while announcing the Bharat Ratna awards.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, today said his party has immense respect for VD Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.

A day after the BJP slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for being silent on the Congress's criticism of VD Savarkar, the Shiv Sena on Monday hit back, and asked why the BJP has not yet given Bharat Ratna the leader.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray played the democracy card today as he sought to defuse tension between his party and the Congress over a proposal to confer the Bharat Ratna - the country's highest civilian honour - to Hindu nationalist VD Savarkar

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said those opposing Bharat Ratna award for Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar should be made to spend two days in the Andaman Cellular Jail, the erstwhile colonial prison, where the freedom fighter had been lodged.

Amid a controversy over awarding the Bharat Ratna to Hindutva icon VD Savarkar, Congress leader Manish Tewari has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accord the highest civilian award in India to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday praised VD Savarkar, saying he was an "accomplished man" who played a part in the freedom struggle, fought for Dalit rights and went to jail for the country, days after the BJP's Maharashtra unit proposed a Bharat Ratna for the Hindutva idealogue.

Indira Gandhi was a follower of VD Savarkar, said his grand-nephew, Ranjeet, who also stated that everything that the former prime minister did was "against Nehru and Gandhi's philosophy".

The controversy over whether VD Savarkar should be accorded with Bharat Ratna has found resonance in Haryana. While the issue has been an emotive one in Maharashtra, owing to Savarkar's connection with the state, the BJP and Shiv Sena have been aggressively backing the move. In Haryana too, the BJP has tried to corner the opposition over the issue.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday criticised the Maharashtra BJP for propping up VD Savarkar as an ideal choice for the Bharat Ratna in its election manifesto, claiming that the ideas preached by the Hindutva ideologue make him unsuitable for such an honour.

Justifying the Bharat Ratna demand for VD Savarkar raised by the Maharashtra BJP in its poll manifesto, Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Wednesday attacked the Congress for opposing the highest civilian honour for such "rashtra bhaktas" (patriots).

The Congress has hit out at the BJP after the party's Maharashtra unit propped VD Savarkar's name for the country's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut targeted the Centre for "forgetting" Hindutva icon and freedom fighter VD Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray while announcing the Bharat Ratna awards.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, today said his party has immense respect for VD Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.

A day after the BJP slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for being silent on the Congress's criticism of VD Savarkar, the Shiv Sena on Monday hit back, and asked why the BJP has not yet given Bharat Ratna the leader.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray played the democracy card today as he sought to defuse tension between his party and the Congress over a proposal to confer the Bharat Ratna - the country's highest civilian honour - to Hindu nationalist VD Savarkar

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said those opposing Bharat Ratna award for Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar should be made to spend two days in the Andaman Cellular Jail, the erstwhile colonial prison, where the freedom fighter had been lodged.

Amid a controversy over awarding the Bharat Ratna to Hindutva icon VD Savarkar, Congress leader Manish Tewari has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accord the highest civilian award in India to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday praised VD Savarkar, saying he was an "accomplished man" who played a part in the freedom struggle, fought for Dalit rights and went to jail for the country, days after the BJP's Maharashtra unit proposed a Bharat Ratna for the Hindutva idealogue.

Indira Gandhi was a follower of VD Savarkar, said his grand-nephew, Ranjeet, who also stated that everything that the former prime minister did was "against Nehru and Gandhi's philosophy".

The controversy over whether VD Savarkar should be accorded with Bharat Ratna has found resonance in Haryana. While the issue has been an emotive one in Maharashtra, owing to Savarkar's connection with the state, the BJP and Shiv Sena have been aggressively backing the move. In Haryana too, the BJP has tried to corner the opposition over the issue.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday criticised the Maharashtra BJP for propping up VD Savarkar as an ideal choice for the Bharat Ratna in its election manifesto, claiming that the ideas preached by the Hindutva ideologue make him unsuitable for such an honour.

Justifying the Bharat Ratna demand for VD Savarkar raised by the Maharashtra BJP in its poll manifesto, Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Wednesday attacked the Congress for opposing the highest civilian honour for such "rashtra bhaktas" (patriots).

The Congress has hit out at the BJP after the party's Maharashtra unit propped VD Savarkar's name for the country's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.