Bal Thackeray joins Bharat Ratna Chorus; bats for Big B

Mumbai, Oct 29: Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday (today) said that Amitabh Bachchan should be bestowed with the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

"Amitabh Bachchan is the last 'Shahenshah' (emperor) of Bollywood. In many countries of the world, the people don't know who is the president or prime minister of the country, but they know Bachchan," Thackeray said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna.

"He is a real jewel of India who has brought laurels to the country... Bachchan truly deserves the Bharat Ratna," Thackeray said.

Bachchan is "as deserving as Sachin Tendulkar for the Bharat Ratna", but the central government and the Congress has ignored it in view of strained relations between the Bachchan and the Gandhi family, Thackeray said.

Thackeray also spoke on the issues of smear campaigns against Bachchan where recently someone used a fake Twitter account in the actor's name, tweeting malicious statements against the Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'RA.One'.

OneIndia New