Vinay Kumar
NEW DELHI: In an unusual development, BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar on Friday questioned the BJP-led Maharashtra government in the state assembly over the delay in taking up a resolution seeking the posthumous conferment of the Bharat Ratna on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar (V D) Savarkar.Raising the matter on the last day of the monsoon session, Mungantiwar said the resolution, which he had moved in the assembly in March, had still not been brought before the House despite an earlier assurance from Speaker Rahul Narwekar.He also used the opportunity to question whether the government’s ideological position had changed after assuming power.“If your ideology has changed after coming to power, then I will never raise this issue again. But your actions do not match the ideology you claim to follow,” PTI quoted him saying.“When a party comes to power, it should not change its ideology. If the government’s stand on this issue has changed, it should say so openly,” he added.In March this year, Mungantiwar had moved a resolution in the assembly seeking the posthumous conferment of Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, on Savarkar. “Veer Savarkar suffered torture at the hands of the British. At least we should not, even unknowingly, make him suffer through our own delay. We only have to pass a resolution. Does even a file have to suffer for so long? It has been two sessions — from March 5 to July 10,” he said.Expressing disappointment, the senior BJP legislator said, “It pains me that as a worker who has devoted his life to Savarkar’s ideology, our own government appears to be sitting on the file. I regret this deeply. Henceforth, I will never raise this issue again.”The Speaker said that the government had informed the Chair that it continued to pursue the matter and assured members that it would be taken up by the BAC in the next session.
