Bharat Ratna may elude all as politics takes centrestage - do politicians deserver bharat ratna?

Vishwa Mohan TNN
New Delhi: It’s always been a difficult task. But awarding this year’s Bharat Ratna to a political personality either living or dead could prove to be impossible for the government given the rising clamour for the honour from almost every quarter — the ‘nominees’ range from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Karpoori Thakur to Charan Singh. And thanks to the fierce politicking, this could well be the seventh straight year when the Bharat Ratna is not awarded, even if there is a deserving candidate. The last time the highest civilian award was announced was in 2001. That year, it was awarded to two non-political personalities — playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.

There are already quite a few names doing the rounds this year and, as one would have come to expect, not a single one is non-political. The race for the Ratna started with Leader of Opposition L K Advani writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and suggesting former Prime Minister Vajpayee’s name for the honour. While delayed reactions are the order of the day, other political parties immediately woke up. The names flowed —Biju Patnaik (BJD), Kanshi Ram (BSP), Karpoori Thakur (RJD), Chaudhary Charan Singh (RLD), Jagjivan Ram and Jyotiba Phule (both recommended by Lok Janshakti Party).

Though the final decision lies with the Prime Minister who, if he so wishes, may consult the Leader of Opposition and vice-president Hamid Ansari after going through a shortlist, government sources said there has hardly been any official move so far. The government may, however, spring a surprise at the last moment by announcing a non-political name, someone who will be broadly acceptable to all. Given the jostling over the social justice plank and the politics of reservations, it is possible that the honour may be bestowed posthumously. But it remains to be seen whether the government will step on what is perceived as a mine field. Sources in the home ministry, which provides secretarial support to the Padma award committee, said if somebody wrote to home minister Shivraj Patil suggesting someone’s name for the Bharat Ratna, the request would simply be forwarded to the PM.

The ball, therefore, is in Manmohan Singh’s court. The Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, 40 leading personalities have received this coveted award. There is no written provision that the Bharat Ratna should be awarded to an Indian citizen only. It has, therefore, been awarded to a naturalized citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980), and to two foreigners — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is also not mandatory for the Bharat Ratna to be awarded each year.

The Padma award committee — responsible for shortlisting names for Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri — has, meanwhile, held a number of meetings to prepare a list for the Prime Minister. Sources said the committee has already received as many as 1,223 recommendations from different states, Union Territories, MPs, MLAs, ministries/departments of central government, individuals and organizations for the three Padma awards. The committee is finalising its list before sending it to Singh.