Pune outfit plans Ganesh decoration contest to promote ideology of Savarkar; CM supports it

A Pune-based organisation, ‘Har Ghar Savarkar Samiti’, has announced a Ganesh decoration competition based on the life of V D Savarkar across the state.

In a series of posts on social media, Samiti has used the names and photographs of chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as guide-mentors on the posters for the competition and said this initiative is being organised in collaboration with the Maharashtra government.

“Ours is a group of like-minded people working to spread the thoughts and work of Savarkar in every household. Towards this objective, we have planned this Ganesh decoration competition. This is a social-cultural initiative, and it has nothing to do with politics,” Yashwant Akolkar, coordinator for the competition, said.

Akolkar also said those who wanted to participate in the contest would have to fill in the online form between September 19 and September 28 and upload the photos and videos of decoration and the jury would decide the winners.

When asked about the state government’s collaboration, Samiti president Devavrat Bapat said Shinde and Fadnavis were helping them in their personal capacity. “Shinde and Fadnavis are supporting our organisation and helping spread awareness of Savarkar. So, we call them our guide-mentors and have mentioned the Maharashtra government in our posts and posters. But there is no official tie-up with any government department.”

When contacted, an official from the chief minister’s office said Shinde is pro-Savarkar and has always supported initiatives to promote the ideology of Savarkar.

Bapat further said Shinde helped Samiti conduct an event on May 21 at Raigad fort under ‘Har Ghar Savarkar’ concept.

Households, housing societies and Ganesh mandals from all 36 districts of Maharashtra can participate in the competition and the total amount of the prizes stands at ₹15 lakh. The prizes include an Andaman trip, an electric scooter, an LED TV, a refrigerator, a solar water pump, a microwave oven, a cycle, a dinner set, and an induction stove.

A controversy erupted after Congress leaders repeatedly criticised Savarkar who is popularly known as Swantraveer (freedom warrior) Savarkar in Maharashtra. To counter it, BJP organised a Savarkar Gaurav Yatra across the state. After a warning by Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray that his party will not tolerate insults to Savarkar, Congress avoided attacking him.