New Delhi: Former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh as well as Green Revolution pioneer M S Swaminathan will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday.
The government had earlier named former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a champion of backward empowerment, and L K Advani, a founding BJP member credited with charting the course of its rise through the 1990s, for the country’s highest civilian honour.
At five, one more than the four announced in 1999, this is the maximum number of Bharat Ratnas announced for a year.
Leaders cutting across party lines welcomed the announcement of Bharat Ratna for P V Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh and M S Swaminathan on Friday and said they deserved the honour.
Asked about the announcement, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “I see it positively. The truth is that they should have been honoured long ago but, for the first time, a government has thought about it.” He said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) always rises above party politics while taking such decisions.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called former prime minister Rao a “visionary leader”.
PTI