By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s demand to honour former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with the country’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, has triggered a fresh row among political parties.
While the BJP Friday took strong offence to Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi’s remark that the Bharat Ratna could not be “demanded”, the Left parties jumped in the fray, saying that veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu could also be given the award.
A senior CPI-M leader took strong exception to the BJP’s attempt to “politicise” the award.
Responding to media persons’ questions in Kolkata, CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said: “I don’t know the parameters under which Bharat Ratna is awarded or whether Vajpayee fulfils that criteria. But it is definite that they are doing politics over it.”
Asked whether Basu should be awarded the Bharat Ratna, Bose said: “I don’t know whether Basu fulfils the parameters. If he fulfils it, Basu can be given the highest civilian award.”
Meanwhile, the BJP reacted sharply to Dasmunsi’s comments. “It is a communication between the Leader of the Opposition (L.K. Advani) and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. What does a union minister have to do with it?” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said to reporters here.
Advani had written to the prime minister proposing Vajpayee’s name for the honour for Vajpayee’s contribution to the nation and strengthening democracy. Wondering why the Leader of Opposition had written such a letter, Dasmunsi said a committee formed by the government would decide on the awards.
“Such matters are not decided though letters,” the minister said.
The Bharat Ratna was last conferred on shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan and India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar in 2001.