Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh, and scientist Dr MS Swaminathan will be conferred with the Bharat Ratna. 

Mr Narasimha Rao was the prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and is known to be the man who heralded the economic liberalisation of India. Mr Charan Singh, a champion of workers and farmers’ rights, briefly served as the prime minister in 1979. Dr Swaminathan, a renowned scientist, is known as the architect of India’s green revolution. 

“Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister, Shri PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna,” the PM wrote on X.

“As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities. He is equally remembered for the work he did as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister, and as a Member of Parliament and Legislative Assembly for many years. His visionary leadership was instrumental in making India economically advanced, laying a solid foundation for the country’s prosperity and growth.”

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. He is equally remembered for the work he did as… pic.twitter.com/lihdk2BzDU

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 9, 2024

“It is the good fortune of our government that former Prime Minister of the country Chaudhary Charan Singh is being honoured with Bharat Ratna. This honor is dedicated to his incomparable contribution to the country. He had dedicated his entire life to the rights and welfare of farmers,” the PM announced.

“Be it the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh or the Home Minister of the country and even as an MLA, he always gave impetus to nation-building. He also stood firm against the Emergency. His dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters and his commitment to democracy during the Emergency is inspiring to the entire nation,” PM Modi wrote in a separate post. 

हमारी सरकार का यह सौभाग्य है कि देश के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री चौधरी चरण सिंह जी को भारत रत्न से सम्मानित किया जा रहा है। यह सम्मान देश के लिए उनके अतुलनीय योगदान को समर्पित है। उन्होंने किसानों के अधिकार और उनके कल्याण के लिए अपना पूरा जीवन समर्पित कर दिया था। उत्तर प्रदेश के… pic.twitter.com/gB5LhaRkIv

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 9, 2024

“It is a matter of immense joy that the Government of India is conferring the Bharat Ratna on Dr. MS Swaminathan Ji, in recognition of his monumental contributions to our nation in agriculture and farmers’ welfare. He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times and made outstanding efforts towards modernizing Indian agriculture. We also recognise his invaluable work as an innovator and mentor and encouraging learning and research among several students. Dr. Swaminathan’s visionary leadership has not only transformed Indian agriculture but also ensured the nation’s food security and prosperity. He was someone I knew closely and l always valued his insights and inputs,” the PM added. 

It is a matter of immense joy that the Government of India is conferring the Bharat Ratna on Dr. MS Swaminathan Ji, in recognition of his monumental contributions to our nation in agriculture and farmers’ welfare. He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in… pic.twitter.com/OyxFxPeQjZ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 9, 2024

The government had earlier announced the country’s highest civilian honour for BJP veteran LK Advani and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.

Mr Narasimha Rao’s career included roles as an agriculturist, advocate, and a prominent political figure. Serving in various capacities, such as Minister of Law and Information, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, Rao demonstrated a keen interest in diverse fields. He also had a stint as India’s External Affairs minister. 

Mr Narasimha Rao is widely credited with initiating pivotal economic reforms and appointing Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister during a challenging economic period. His six-time parliamentary tenure concluded with his death at the age of 83 in 2004.

Mr Charan Singh, India’s fifth prime minister, was not only an Indian politician but also a freedom fighter, aligning himself with Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle against British rule. Hee founded the Lokdal party in 1980 and s often hailed as the “Champion of India’s peasants”.

Dr Swaminathan made extraordinary contributions to Indian agriculture, earning him the title “Father of Economic Ecology.” As a global leader of the Green Revolution, Mr Swaminathan played a key role in introducing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, saving India from famine-like conditions in the 1960s. 

Former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh has been awarded a posthumous Bharat Ratna – India’s highest civilian award – the government said Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the award on X (formerly Twitter) hailing Mr Singh for his “incomparable contributions”.

“He dedicated his life to the welfare of farmers… whether as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh or Home Minister of the country, and even as MLA, he always gave impetus to nation-building. He stood against the Emergency (and) his dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters is inspiring…” Mr Modi said.

The Bharat Ratna for Chaudhary Charan Singh comes amid reports of a seat-sharing deal between the BJP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal – founded by his son and now led by his grandson, Jayant Chaudhary.

And, minutes after Mr Modi’s post, Mr Chaudhary tweeted: “Dil jeet gaya (Hearts have been won).”

दिल जीत लिया! #BharatRatna https://t.co/Ns0CraJ7yI

— Jayant Singh (@jayantrld) February 9, 2024

Sources told NDTV the BJP will give the RLD – which has substantial support among Jats and farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to Parliament’s Lower House, the most of any state – two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat in return for its support. NDTV was also told the RLD had made awarding a Bharat Ratna for Chaudhary Charan Singh a key condition for any agreement.

Jayant Chaudhary’s party is likely to get the Baghpat and Bijnor seats, and his wife may be made a Rajya Sabha candidate, sources have said. There was also talk of ministerial berths for the RLD.

Sources said the BJP had offered two berths in UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet, but the RLD also wanted a seat in Prime Minister Modi’s cabinet at the centre.

READ | BJP Approaches INDIA’s Rashtriya Lok Dal With 7-Seat Offer: Sources

The RLD only last month confirmed an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, under which it was to contest seven Lok Sabha seats. Faced with possibly losing the RLD’s backing, Akhilesh Yadav yesterday told reporters Mr Chaudhary is a “very well-educated person… (who) understands politics”.

The former UP Chief Minister also said he hoped he would not weaken the struggle against the BJP “for the welfare of farmers and prosperity of the state”. His party was more explicit; General Secretary Shivpal Yadav said “Jayant will not go anywhere”, and accused the BJP of “spreading confusion”.

This morning too Akhilesh Yadav downplayed buzz of the RLD leaving, saying, “There have been no talks. Whatever it is, (it) is being published in newspapers,..am getting information through you.”

#WATCH | Lucknow: On speculations of Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD joining the BJP-led alliance in UP, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav says, “There have been no talks here. Whatever it is, is being published in newspapers, I am getting all the information through you.” pic.twitter.com/8Hfb3vkAa2

— ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2024

Mr Yadav, meanwhile, welcomed the award for Charan Singh but also took a swipe at the BJP, remarking it is only right someone “who spent his life” helping poor farmers get the Bharat Ratna”. 

“I want to congratulate all farmers. Chaudhary Charan Singhji fought for farmers all his life… We are happy a farmer leader got Bharat Ratna,” he said in the UP Assembly.

The jab comes as the BJP faces yet another wave of protesting farmers; on Thursday farmers from UP’s Noida and Greater Noida amassed on Delhi’s border to agitate for better land prices.

The sight of farmers penned behind police barricades, with riot control vehicles at the ready, were a replay of images from three years ago – when tens of thousands of farmers and their supporters marched on Delhi to protest the “black farm laws”, triggering a massive image crisis for the BJP.

Five Bharat Ratnas This Year

Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Bharat Ratna is the fifth announced this year; the government has also recognised Congress leader and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, and the BJP’s LK Advani, as well as world-renowned agronomist MS Swaminathan.

The awards come weeks before a general election and a number of Assembly polls, including one in Andhra Pradesh, which is Mr Rao’s home state and one in which Mr Modi’s BJP is scrambling for grip.

Equally significant, Karpoori Thakur’s award came shortly before Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar – his protege – executed (yet another) flip-flop, dumping the INDIA bloc and realigning with the BJP.

READ | Bharat Ratna To Karpoori Thakur As Impetus For Nitish Kumar’s U-Turn?

Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has declared its “appreciation” to the Prime Minister for “honouring the real India”; “We are proud of it…” JDU leader KC Tyagi told news agency ANI.

The Bharat Ratna for Mr Advani – who has labelled himself the “charioteer” who steered the controversial ‘rath yatra’ to Ayodhya in UP – came days after the consecration of the Ram Temple.

The sole non-political Bharat Ratna this year was to MS Swaminathan – the ‘father of India’s Green Revolution’ and who was hailed by the Prime Minister as “a true farmers’ scientist”.

Mr Swaminathan died in September last year.

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Ahead of a Lok Sabha election in a few weeks and a state poll later this year, it seems a swayamvar on in Delhi as the ruling BJP decides on a match from Andhra Pradesh. Less than 24 hours after Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP boss JP Nadda, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy travelled to Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On the face of it, Mr Reddy is meeting the Prime Minister to discuss Special Category status for his state – a long-standing demand of his YSR Congress Party and the TDP – central funds and other issues. Analysts, however, say the meeting suggests the BJP is in its customary watch-and-wait mode, weighing its options before committing to either side (or remaining neutral) before the elections.

Most likely, any understanding between the BJP and either the YSRCP or the TDP (which is allied, in the state, with actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, a member of the BJP-led national alliance) will be informal, which the regional parties may prefer since a formal tie-up risks them losing minority votes.

That, interestingly, means neither Jagan Mohan Reddy nor Chandrababu Naidu wants the swayamvar to end with a public marriage; a private handshake might be the preferred outcome.

That could be what the BJP wants too, despite Mr Modi’s party not being a political force in the state; it was routed in the 2019 Assembly election, failing to win a single seat despite contesting all 173 in play.

A formal alliance with either party might be seen as favourable but that comes with its own challenges, the biggest of which is seat-sharing. Neither the YSRCP nor the TDP will be very keen on surrendering seats to the saffron party, because it reduces their potential contested seats-to-win ratio.

And the BJP, given its poor record from five years ago, and its big defeat in neighbouring Telangana in November last year, may not be in the strongest bargaining position.

So while a backroom deal seems more likely, Chandrababu Naidu’s chances of winning that support is seen as lesser than that of his state rival. The BJP, it seems, has been giving him the cold shoulder because of the way he walked out of the party-led National Democratic Alliance, twice.

The last time was in 2018, when he was under pressure from Mr Reddy on the Special Category status issue. Back then the BJP had said the “doors are closed forever (for the Andhra Pradesh party)”.

That might leave Mr Reddy in the lead, but he is likely to only want ‘associate member’ status.

Mr Reddy, in fact, is very clear he wants only the best possible outcome for his state; he has said, as he did before the 2019 Lok Sabha poll too, he hopes no party gets a clear majority in the national election, so Andhra Pradesh has leeway to negotiate with whichever alliance forms the central government.

Ultimately, it seems the BJP will win regardless of which way the Andhra Pradesh voters lean.

Its strength in the state will come, as some analysts have remarked, from ‘B’ (for Chandrababu Naidu), ‘J’ (for Jagan Mohan Reddy), and ‘P’ for Pawan Kalyan, because all three are ready to back the BJP.

Meanwhile, in the BJP camp opinion is divided on how the party should progress and if, in fact, there should be any alliance in Andhra Pradesh. One lobby, which including its state unit boss Daggubati Purandeswari, wants an alliance. Another feels going solo is a chance to establish itself in the state.

That reasoning is based on the fact the Congress, which like the BJP has been nearly non-existent in the state since 2014, is trying to revive its fortunes, and is banking on Mr Reddy’s sister, YS Sharmila.

READ | YS Sharmila, Congress’ Weapon For Andhra Pradesh Polls, Gets Big Post

Ms Reddy, who has been made the party’s state boss.

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