There's a political war brewing over Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar, also known as Veer Sawarkar. This after his name figured in the BJP manifesto as a posthumous recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. From PM to Amit Shah to the entire BJP top brass, this has become a rallying point. Like most things these days, this issue too seems to have divided the view within the Congress party. One section of the party is strongly opposed to the idea with Manish Tewari saying, then you might as well give Nathuram Godse a Bharat Ratna too, and on the other end of the spectrum you have former PM Manmohan Singh who said we value his contribution but do not stand for his brand of Hindutva ideology. By the evening, BJP ministers released Indira Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi's speeches and letters praising Sawarkar. The question on the show though is more fundamental: Like Article 370, what has this got to do with the local issues of Maharashtra? Is this a poll issue, and if it is, should we say goodbye to conventional wisdom that state elections are won and fought on local issues?
