Headlines
Vajpayee to be conferred Bharat Ratna on Friday
New Delhi, March 25
President Pranab Mukherjee
will present the Bharat Ratna to former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee at his residence here on Friday, Rashtrapati Bhavan said on
Wednesday.
The president will also confer the Bharat Ratna on
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) on March 30 at Rashtrapati
Bhavan along with the Civil Investiture Ceremony for the Padma Awards, a
statement said.
The honour for Gwalior-born Vajpayee, who was
prime minister first in 1996 and then again from 1998 to 2004, came
after years of demands from all sections of society, including political
leaders irrespective of party affiliations.
Vajpayee will be the
seventh prime minister to receive the award, after Jawaharlal Nehru,
Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri and
Gulzarilal Nanda.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok
Sabha campaign, had promised Bharat Ratna for late freedom
fighter-educationist Malaviya, who was also founder of the Banaras Hindu
University.