President Droupadi Murmu bestowed the prestigious Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, upon former prime ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously, during a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian award.
The awards for Rao, Singh, Thakur, and Swaminathan were received by their relatives. P.V. Prabhakar Rao, son of former prime minister Rao, accepted the honor on behalf of his father from the president. Jayant Chaudhary, Singh’s grandson and president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), received the award on behalf of his grandfather.
Nitya Rao, Swaminathan’s daughter, and Ram Nath Thakur, Thakur’s son, accepted the awards from the president.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
This year, the government announced five Bharat Ratna awards, including one for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani.