25.12.14

Bharat Ratnas for Atal Bihari Vajpayee & Malviya



BJP veteran L K Advani became emotional as he hailed the announcement of Bharat Ratna for his long-time colleague and senior Atal Bihari Vajpayee with whom he has shared over five decades of close relationship. Describing Vajpayee as an “outstanding patriot“, Advani said the 90-year-old leader was the only former Prime Minister with a “longish“ tenure whose term was “without any blemish“. He regretted that the former UPA government had not honoured Vajpayee with the award as he recalled that he had written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard in 2008.
“I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the government to honour two outstanding patriots with the Bharat Ratna,“ he told reporters soon after an official announcement was made.Vajpayee and Advani, founding members of the BJP, worked in tandem to assiduously steer the party into the mainstream of Indian politics and then propelled it to power in the 1990s. Vajpayee has withdrawn from active public life due to ill health.
Recalling that he had written to Manmohan Singh urging him to give Vajpayee the Bharat Ratna, Advani said, “I had given 10 reasons as to why Vajpayee was eminently suited to receive the award.“
The veteran BJP leader added that he received an acknowledgment of his letter to Singh but never heard from him on the issue again.
“Because it is my own government ... I can convey rather than write formally . It was Manmohan Singh's government, therefore I wrote that letter.“ He also lauded the conferment of the highest civilian award on educationist Madan Mohan Malviya, posthumously. Even TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in the midst of a running political battle with BJP , described it as wonderful news. Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said his party and its chief have a “very special bond“ with Vajpayee.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who is also a Bharat Ratna recipient, said he was “absolutely delighted“ to get the news.
JDU chief Sharad Yadav also hailed the decision saying, “Malviya had a great role in Indian independence and he established a great institution like Benaras Hindu University. I have been associated with Atalji for many years ....even being in the BJP he respected the composite culture of India.“
The Congress seized upon the Bharat Ratna to Madan Mohan Malaviya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow their principles of “inclusiveness“ and “raj dharma“. Welcoming the honour for the two personalities, Congress general secretary Ajay Maken said, “We hope that the government acknowledges the ideals of inclusiveness that Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya stood by and follows the principles of `raj dharma' enunciated by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.“ The Centre's decision on the highest civilian honour could be seen as Modi appropriating another public personality in Vajpayee but the Congress chose to remind how the BJP stalwart ticked off the then Gujarat CM for his role during the 2002 riots.


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