By IANS
New Delhi : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani has recommended to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country.
In a letter dated Jan 5, Advani stated that since an illustrious person like Vajpayee is in our midst, he rightly deserved the award.
Advani has pointed out that Vajpayee is an outstanding parliamentarian who has had the “longest parliamentary life among all the living members of parliament”.
“He has been prime minister thrice,” the letter says, adding, “for the longest period after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi”.
Interestingly, the letter also mentions Vajpayee’s fight against the Emergency Rule during 1975-77 imposed by Indira Gandhi’s Congress government.
Advani, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and former deputy prime minister, has also noted that Vajpayee had supported the economic reforms launched by the Congress government in 1991, adding in brackets, “When you (Manmohan Singh) were the finance minister.”
The economic reforms were initiated by Manmohan Singh.
Other points Advani has mentioned include India’s victory in the Kargil war against Pakistan when Vajpayee was prime minister, also normalising relations with Pakistan, leading a stable coalition government in New Delhi and being the first to appreciate the Indian diaspora’s emotional link with the motherland.
Vajpayee had started the annual Pravasi Bharati Divas celebrations, whose sixth edition is now going on here.
The Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards are given away every year on Jan 26, the Republic Day.