Govt received 99 recommendations for ’07 Bharat Ratna

Mahatma Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are among 99 personalities for whom recommendations were received by Govt last year for conferring the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna.

Mahatma Gandhi and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi are among 99 personalities for whom recommendations were received by the government last year for conferring the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna.

Recommendations were also received for political stalwarts like A B Vajpayee, V P Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and M Karunanidhi besides departed leaders like Babu Jagjivan Ram, Bansi Lal, Charan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, Kanshi Ram, N T Rama Rao and S Nijalingappa.

This was disclosed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Manikrao H Gavit in Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

While the government received 70 recommendations in 2005, it got five less the next year, he said, adding the government has conferred the highest award to 40 personalities so far.

The Congress chief’s name was recommended for Bharat Ratna for consecutive three years from 2005. Names of Dalit icon Jagjivan Ram, father of White Revolution Verghese Kurien, agriculturist M S Swaminathan and yoga guru Baba Ramdev were also recommended for these three consecutive years.

The Father of Nation was recommended for the award in 2006 and 2007. Biju Patnaik, M F Husain, Jagjivan Ram, Karunanidhi, Justice (Retd) V R Krishna Iyer, Veer Savarkar and Kurien got multiple recommendations.

The only couple to be recommended for the coveted award last year were social reformer Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai.

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The other names included legendary revolutionary Bhagat Singh, musicians Bhimsen Joshi, Bhupen Hazarika, Mohd Rafi and Balamurali Krishna, actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar, veteran journalist Khushwant Singh, Indian- American astronaut Sunita Williams and industrialist Ratan Tata.