Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, renaming Churchgate station: Shinde Sena’s proposals in first national executive meet

In its first national executive meeting after getting the Shiv Sena name and symbol, the Shinde faction proposed the Bharat Ratna for Hindutva idealogue VD Savarkar.

By Ritvick Arun Bhalekar: The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction on Tuesday held its first national executive meeting days after the Election Commission allotted them the party name and bow and arrow symbol. Among the resolutions proposed in the meeting was the demand for Bharat Ratna for Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The national executive meeting was chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Another proposal discussed at the meeting was renaming Churchgate Railway Station after former Union Finance Minister Chintamanrao Deshmukh.

Other proposals discussed in the meeting are:

• Providing 80 percent employment to sons of soil (Bhoomiputra) in the state. 80 percent of jobs will be given to local youth in all the projects.
• The Marathi language will be given the status of an elite (Abhijit) language.
• To provide strong support to Marathi students of UPSC and MPSC.

Incidentally, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena has also demanded Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, for Savarkar.

Last week, the Election Commission of India allotted the name Shiv Sena and the party symbol of bow and arrow to the Eknath Shinde faction. This came as a huge blow to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, which has been fighting to stake a claim over the party’s name and symbol after Shinde’s rebellion last year.