Maha nominated Koregaon clash accused for Padma honour in ’16

MUMBAI: Manohar alias Sambhaji Bhide, a right-wing leader from Sangli accused of inciting the Bhima-koregaon violence on January 1, had been recommended for a Padma award by the BJP government in Maharashtra in 2016, documents accessed by Hindustan Times showed.

A high-power committee, comprising 10 senior ministers, had recommended Bhide’s name for the Padma Shri. Significantly, the recommendation had been made by the committee using its discretion, even though the government had not received any application for it.

The relevant documents were obtained by HT from the state government’s protocol department under the RTI.

Bhide, 84, who is also known as Bhide Guruji, was named in the FIR after Koregaon clash on charges of inciting villagers, who attacked Dalit groups paying tributes to the Mahar regiment soldiers who they believe defeated the Peshwas.

He also faces charges of instigating communal riots in MirajSangli in Sangli district during Ganpati emersion, over an arch sporting a poster depicting the slaying of Afzal Khan. A demand was made for his arrest, but the then Congress-ncp government did not take action against him. He was also in the news nationally when the organisation ransacked theatres to protest against the movie Jodha-akbar in 2008.

A former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, Bhide is founder of an outfit, Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, which has been active for the past three decades in spreading awareness about Maratha king Shivaji.