Hours after the Union Government conferred Bharat Ratna on former Prime Ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday demanded the country's top civilian honour for party founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram.
In a series of posts on 'X', Mayawati welcomed the Bharat Ratna for Singh, Rao and Swaminathan, but also blamed the central government for "ignoring" Dalit personalities for the award. "All the personalities who have been honoured with Bharat Ratna by the present BJP government are welcome, but it is not at all appropriate to disrespect and ignore Dalit personalities, especially in this matter. The government should definitely pay attention to this also," read the rough translation of her post in Hindi.
She also equated the contribution of Kanshi Ram and BR Ambedkar for the social and economic uplift of the underprivileged. "After a long wait, Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was honoured with the Bharat Ratna by the government of VP Singh. After that, the struggle by respected Shri Kanshiram ji, the messiah of the Dalits and the neglected, in their interests is no less. He should also be honoured with the Bharat Ratna," Mayawati wrote in another post.
Bharat Ratna in 2024
The decision to award Bharat Ratna to former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh and green revolution pioneer MS Swaminathan has taken the number of recipients of the country's highest civilian award to 53, five of them within 2024, maximum in a year so far. Till now, the maximum number of Bharat Ratna were awarded in 1999 when four recipients were given the coveted award.
Former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao, whose liberalisation policies revolutionised the economy, and Charan Singh, a champion of farmers' cause, and green revolution pioneer MS Swaminathan will be conferred Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday.
Singh, a Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh, was one of the pioneers of anti-Congress politics at a time when the Congress was the hegemonic political force. Rao, a Telugu, is widely recognised for ushering in economic reforms.
