Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honourWith the change of government at the Centre, there is speculation on whom the Modi government would confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour. Institutions and individuals have put forward the names of eminent personalities who deserve this honour, and who would not have been considered by the Congress dominated UPA government which ruled the country for ten years. On the day Narendra Modi won a decisive majority, many BJP leaders declared that the first BJP Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who ruled the country for six years, should be given this honour.
Immediately thereafter, the NDA ally Telugu Desham reiterated its demand for posthumous Bharat Ratna to actor turned politician N T Rama Rao who is the founder of the party. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is Rao's son in law, had made this demand earlier when he was convenor of united front and NDA.
Now Telengana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao has sought the same honour for former prime minister P. V.Narasimha Rao, saying Rao's legacy had been brushed under the carpet by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her party government. In a bid to score points with the Congress, some BJP leaders have said the role of Rao as prime minister needs to be reassessed. While Rao is credited for ushering in economic reforms, his inaction while Babri Masjid structure was demolished and also the corruption scams during his regime are held out as black marks.
Modi himself has not revealed his mind on the subject of civilian honours, as he had other priorities in the beginning of his term.
The only hint taken by party members is from his address to the BJP parliamentary party on his election as prime minister that the birth centenary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh's second president Deendayal Upadhyaya, who gave the call for integrated humanism, should be celebrated fittingly. There are demands in the party that Bharat Ratna should be conferred on both Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the Jan Sangh founder, who died while in detention in Kashmir, and Upadhyaya. It is not known whether Modi would revisit the proposal of Vajpayee government to confer posthumous Bharat Ratna on freedom fighter and Hindu Mahasabha leader Savarkar, which was opposed by the Congress. When Vajpayee proposed Savarkar's name to then president K.R.Narayanan, the president had come with the counterproposal of Bharat Ratna to the father of white revolution Varghese Kurien. Finally neither names were cleared.
It is sixty years since Bharat Ratna was instituted. There was a break when prime minister Morarji Desai cancelled civilian awards in 1977 saying it is against the principle of equality in the constitution. Butin his nineties, Desai received the award in 1991. Second time the award was kept in abeyance when there was a public interest litigation in Kerala high court in 1990s. 24 persons were conferred this honour during Congress rule, while 14 were conferred when non-Congress governments were in power. While some awards have been welcomed unanimously, others have been seen as either due to partisanship of the ruling government or bowing to pressure.
There are also suggestions that Modi should honour successful men and women in science, engineering, banking and economy with names of Homi Bhabha, founder of the atomic energy programme, Vikram Sarabhai, founder of space programme, banker Deepak Parkh and Metro man E.Sreedharan doing the rounds. Apart from NTR and Narasimha Rao, other political parties too have demanded the honour for their founders like Bahujan Samaj Party for Kanshi Ram and Biju Janata Dal for Naveen Patnaik, though both these parties are now opposed to BJP. As Republic Day approaches, more names will be proposed for the highest honour. Whenever the honour is announced, it would give an inkling on the way the prime minister's mind works.
Tailpiece: One Bharat Ratna honour which was announced but not conferred was for Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Congress president and founder of the Indian national army, who waged war for India's independence. Though the name was announced by president R.Venkataraman on the advice of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in January 1992, the gazette notification was not issued due to protests by Netaji's family and followers. They protested the posthumous award saying Netaji's death has not been proven. At that time Narasimha Rao said the country needed more time.
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