Mumbai: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's family said that they never demanded the Bharat Ratna for him even as the Centre on Tuesday said no formal recommendation is required for the top civilian award.
"I would like to clarify that we, as the family of Savarkar, have never asked or demanded Bharat Ratna for him because we believe that one cannot ask for respect," Savarkar's grandson Ranjit told ANI here.
However, he asked the BJP and Shiv Sena to fulfil their poll promise to press for awarding the Bharat Ratna to Savarkar.
"If they (BJP-Shiv Sena) have promised this to people of this country then they should fulfil it," he said.
Ranjit said that the Bharat Ratna to Savarkar will add value to the list of recipients of the award.
Notably, BJP in its manifesto for Maharashtra polls had promised to recommend Savarkar's name for the top civilian award. Shiv Sena had also made similar demands.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Home Affairs, in a reply in Lok Sabha said recommendations for Bharat Ratna is received form various quarters but no formal recommendation is required.
Several prominent people including Mahatma Gandhi' great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, said that conferring the award upon the Hindu ideologue would be an insult to Bapu.
