Mungantiwar’s Emotional vow in Assembly over Savarkar’s bharat ratna
Resolution to be Tabled in the Next Session
By Anita Shukla, senior correspondent
Mumbai: If the government has forgotten the promises made in its own manifesto, then I will never raise the issue of Veer Savarkar’s Bharat Ratna in this House again,” vowed senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar in an emotional address to the Legislative Assembly. His solemn declaration left the House in stunned silence for a brief period.
The veteran legislator and former minister expressed deep resentment over the delay in tabling the resolution to recommend Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for the posthumous ‘Bharat Ratna’, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Expressing his grief, Mungantiwar reminded the House that the Mahayuti alliance had officially promised to confer the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar in its 2019 election manifesto. He noted that when he previously introduced a non-official resolution on the matter, Minister Jaykumar Rawal had assured that a formal recommendation would be forwarded to the Central Government.
“However, there is not even a passing mention of this subject in today’s order paper,” Mungantiwar lamented. He strongly admonished the administration, stating, “Savarkar endured immense torture by the British in the Andaman cellular jail; we must not insult his memory in an independent India.” He further added that it is deeply disheartening for a file to be suppressed under an administration run by the very party whose workers have lived by Savarkar’s ideology.
Technical Hurdles Delayed the Resolution; Will Be Introduced in the Next Session: Speaker
Following Mungantiwar’s sharp expression of disapproval, Legislative Assembly Speaker Adv. Rahul Narwekar offered a clarification to the House. While acknowledging that the issue raised by Mungantiwar was highly critical and sensitive for all members, the Speaker highlighted procedural constraints.
Narwekar explained that before any formal resolution can be tabled in the House, it must be thoroughly deliberated upon during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). Unfortunately, this topic could not be discussed in the recent BAC meeting. The Speaker noted that introducing the resolution directly to the floor without prior committee consensus was procedurally inappropriate, which is why it was omitted from the current agenda. He assured the House that the subject would definitively be taken up for discussion in the upcoming legislative session, and appropriate action would be initiated.
