Even though his party is leading the Maharashtra government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar on Friday questioned in the state legislative assembly over the “delay” in passing a resolution seeking Bharat Ratna for Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
Earlier, in March, Mungantiwar had moved a resolution in the Assembly seeking to confer the country’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
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Raising the matter on the last day of the monsoon session, Mungantiwar said Speaker Rahul Narwekar had assured the House on March 5 that the resolution would be taken up “as soon as possible”, but it did not appear on the agenda during the previous Budget session or the current monsoon session.
The leader also stated that coming to power should not mean changing one’s ideological position.
“Veer Savarkar suffered torture at the hands of the British. At least we should not, even unknowingly, make him suffer because of our delay. All we have to do is pass a resolution. Should he even suffer the file for a long time? Two sessions have passed, from March 5 to July 10,” he stressed.
He added: “If your ideology changes after you come to power, I will not raise this issue again. But your actions do not match the ideology you claim to follow.”
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“When a party comes to power, it should not change its ideology. If the government’s position on this issue changes, it should say so openly,” Mungantiwar said.
He also urged Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil to clarify the government’s position.
“It pains me that as a worker who has dedicated his life to Savarkar’s ideology, our government seems to be sitting on the file. I deeply regret this. From now on, I will never raise this issue again,” the BJP leader continued.
‘Never came before BAC’: President of the Association
The association’s president Rahul Narwekar clarified that the resolution was not brought before the council because it was not discussed in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), news agency PTI reported.
“Unfortunately, this issue was not brought before the BAC committee. I did not think it appropriate to bring such a decision before the board without prior discussion with all the leaders of the hall,” Narwekar said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives said that the government informed the President that it is continuing to follow up on the matter and assured members that this issue will be discussed in the BAC Committee during the next session.
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In addition, the Speaker also emphasized that this is an important issue for the House and noted that it had been discussed earlier. He also added that any decision must be submitted to the BAC after giving advance notice to all hall leaders.
