NEW DELHI: The season for Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, appears to be in full bloom with the Centre on Friday adding three more distinguished personalities to the list — former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, and celebrated agricultural scientist Dr M S Swaminathan.
The year began with veteran Bihar socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur being conferred the award (posthumously), followed by BJP veteran and former deputy prime minister L K Advani.
The awards came ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and the payback was already visible with Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Singh indicating his Rashtriya Lok Dal could switch from the opposition INDIA bloc to the NDA. By adding Rao to the list, the BJP possibly hopes to wrest the legacy of the leader the Congress almost disowned in the Telugu heartland.
Announcing the awards on his X handle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister Shri PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities.” Rao was the country’s first and only full-term Pm from the South.
In the next post, Modi announced the Bharat Ratna for Jat icon and former PM Charan Singh. Jayant Singh has the ability to swing Jat votes in western UP.
Modi’s third post announced the award for Dr Swaminathan. Both Rao and Swaminathan hail from the South, where except for Karnataka the BJP is yet to make its mark in electoral politics. In all, 53 stalwarts have been honoured with the Bharat Ratna so far.
Buzz on Badal, Biju
Other names that are doing the rounds for the Bharat Ratna are Bal Thackeray, Biju Patnaik, Anna Hazare, Manmohan Singh, Parkash Singh Badal and N T Rama Rao. “Don’t be surprised if Amitabh Bachchan gets the award. Ramanand Sagar and Arun Govil (Rama-yan serial) also deserve it,” remarked a BJP functionary