- The very mention of Bharat Ratna fills us with tremendous awe, great pride, inexplicable euphoria, and a general feeling of highly inspirational emotions coursing through our veins. As you are aware, the Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. The award was instituted on 02nd January 1954 and is conferred in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, or gender. Suddenly, the Bharat Ratna is in the news since the present dispensation at the Centre has awarded the highest civilian award of the country to five distinct personalities who have contributed immensely to their chosen fields. The Centre has awarded five great personalities in the last few weeks.
PC: Deccan Chronicle
- Of course, the opposition political parties and some experts from diverse fields may question the timing of the award as the mother of all elections, the Lok Sabha polls are just a few weeks away. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is aggressively pursuing to include more allies to present a formidable entity to the opposition ranks’ efforts to stop the incumbent government’s electoral juggernaut. Indeed, there is no denying that the timing of the awards is directly linked to the ensuing parliamentary elections, considering the labyrinthine permutations and combinations of the caste equations prevalent in the country. None of the political moves are immune from the ubiquitous pull of the caste conundrum.
- The first to be declared with the Bharat Ratna was the socialist leader and ex-chief minister of undivided Bihar the late Karpoori Thakur. We all know how the political churnings in Bihar have panned out over the last few years. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has switched sides so often that it’s impossible to remember to which alliance he eventually belongs. Did someone mention ideology? What is it? The moment Karpoori Thakur’s name was announced for the award, Nitish Kumar made yet another switch to the NDA fold ditching the Mahaghatbandhan consisting of RLD and Congress. Conferring the award to BJP patriarch LK Advani must have warmed the cockles of the saffron brigade. It is a recognition of his immense contributions to the rise of the party.
PC: Kerala Kaumudi
- Remember, Advani was the architect of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement which culminated with the consecration of Lord Ram recently. Further, the three others chosen for the posthumous awards are the former Prime Minister’s Late Choudhary Charan Singh and Late PV Narasimha Rao, respectively. Also, conferred with the award is the Late MS Swaminathan, an eminent agronomist and agriculture scientist considered the father of the Green Revolution. Award to Charan Singh must be considered a politically tactical move since the Jat community holds tremendous sway over the influential farmers of the region. Both Narasimha Rao – a modern Indian economic architect – and Swaminathan are deserving awardees for sure. Congratulations are in order!
