Headlines
President confers Bharat Ratna on Vajpayee at his home
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on Friday conferred with
the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, by President Pranab
Mukherjee in a brief ceremony attended by the country's leadership and
top political personalities.
The president, in a break from
protocol, arrived at Vajpayee's residence at 6, Krishna Menon Marg to
confer the top honour on the former prime minister who has been keeping
poor health.
The ceremony was attended by Vice President Hamid
Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as former prime minister
Manmohan Singh and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani among others.
Prime
Minister Modi, addressing the media outside, expressed his gratitude to
President Mukherjee for coming to Vajpayee's home to personally hand
over the award to the nonagenarian leader.
He said Vajpayee's
life was "dedicated to the nation... He lived for the country...Hhis
every moment was for the country. For all karyakartas (BJP workers) like
me, Vajpayee-ji has been an inspiration and will remain so. His life
will continue to inspire us".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
announced the conferment of the award to the thronging media waiting at
Vajpayee's gate. The media was not allowed to enter inside the house or
cover the actual conferment ceremony.
The Modi government
recommended the Bharat Ratna to Vajpayee, 90, and to educationist Madan
Mohan Malviya (posthumous) in December last year.
Jaitley,
speaking to the media, said the president conferred the honour at a
"brief ceremony" and that Vajpayee "lives at home due to his health".
"The ceremony was held at his home. Vajpayee is the sarvocch (top most)
leader," he said.
He said among the other guests present at the
ceremony were union ministers, many chief ministers, including Jammu and
Kashmir's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh
Chouhan, Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje, Andhra Pradesh's Chandra Babu
Naidu, as well as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat
and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav. Former president A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam was also present.
Jaitley said Vajpayee was a "powerful
nationalist leader, as prime minister of the country, he held various
offices, was the longest serving parliamentarian, and left his mark as
an orator, political leader, thinker and poet". He described it as an
"occasion of joy".
In a press release, Rashtrapati Bhavan said
that President Mukherjee conferred the Bharat Ratna on Vajpayee. "In a
special gesture, the President conferred the Award in a simple ceremony
held at the residence of Vajpayee."
Vajpayee was the first
non-Congress leader to serve India for a full five-year term from 1999
to 2004. His earlier two stints at the office lasted 13 days and 13
months.