Aug 11 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Govt Okays Bharat Ratna for Vajpayee
NEW DELHI
OUR POLITICAL BUREAU
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Announcement may come before Independence Day; Dhyan Chand & Subhash Chandra Bose other probables
The government is understood to have approved Bharat Ratna for former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and an announcement could be made soon, perhaps as early as this Independence Day.A senior government official, familiar with the matter, said there were a couple of other names in contention as well, including hockey legend Dhyan Chand and freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose, but only Vajpayee’s name had been cleared so far.
The Centre can award a maximum of three Bharat Ratnas in one year. Last year, the UPA government had given the award to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao.
The BJP, then in the Opposition, had criticized the UPA for ignoring Vajpayee’s contri
bution and said it will bestow the honour upon him as soon as it comes to power.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have approved the move and could soon send a recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for the same. Vajpayee, now 90, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan way back in 1992. His name was recommended to the PMO by citizens 11 times in 2011 and half-a-dozen times in 2012, records show.
The family of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, meanwhile, said it did not approve the idea of a Bharat Ratna being conferred upon him. “Netaji has been missing since 1945.
When you award him with the Bharat Ratna posthumously, you have to say when he died, but where's the evidence? The best way to honour him is to declassify files which can reveal the truth behind his disappearance,” Netaji’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose said.
The Centre can award a maximum of three Bharat Ratnas in one year. Last year, the UPA government had given the award to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao.
The BJP, then in the Opposition, had criticized the UPA for ignoring Vajpayee’s contri
bution and said it will bestow the honour upon him as soon as it comes to power.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have approved the move and could soon send a recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for the same. Vajpayee, now 90, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan way back in 1992. His name was recommended to the PMO by citizens 11 times in 2011 and half-a-dozen times in 2012, records show.
The family of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, meanwhile, said it did not approve the idea of a Bharat Ratna being conferred upon him. “Netaji has been missing since 1945.
When you award him with the Bharat Ratna posthumously, you have to say when he died, but where's the evidence? The best way to honour him is to declassify files which can reveal the truth behind his disappearance,” Netaji’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose said.
