Modi govt has forgotten Savarkar, Bal Thackeray: Raut

Mumbai, Feb 9 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday targeted the Union government for "forgetting" Hindutva icon and freedom fighter V D Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray while announcing the Bharat Ratna awards.

Former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh as well 'Green Revolution' pioneer M S Swaminathan will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday.

In a post on X, Rajya Sabha MP Raut said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has again forgotten Savarkar and Thackeray, while he announced Bharat Ratna to former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, former deputy prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and agriculture scientist and father of India's food revolution Dr. S Swaminathan." The norm is that Bharat Ratna is awarded to three individuals in a year, but Modi announced five names, Raut said and cited the upcoming polls for the same.

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. PTI