Shiv Sena demands Bharat Ratna for Bal Thackeray

Shiv Sena on Wednesday demanded Bharat Ratna for its founder Bal Thackeray, a day when the country’s highest civilian honour was bestowed on former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and late freedom fighter and educationist Madan Mohan Malviya. The party, a BJP ally, said while it was heartening to see that Vajpayee has been picked for the honour by the NDA government, Thackeray, too, deserves the award. “Balasaheb was a man of great stature. Though it is very heartening to see that he (Vajpayee) will be conferred with Bharat Ratna, I feel that he (Bal Thackeray) should also be given the same award.