Bengaluru, Feb. 11 -- Taking a sharp swipe at the Centre, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Wednesday said Bharat Ratna must be a unifying honour and not a divisive one, asserting that Veer Savarkar cannot be considered a leader who represents the entire country.
Escalating the ideological confrontation between the Congress and the BJP, Rao said Savarkar remains a controversial figure in India's freedom struggle and therefore should not be conferred with the nation's highest civilian award.
"Veer Savarkar is an icon, but he is not an icon for the entire country because of his controversial role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. After his release from the Andaman Islands, he withdrew from the freedom movement. He was not ...