Pranab chosen for India's top civilian award
India's first Bangalee president Pranab Mukherjee was yesterday chosen for the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Music maestro Bhupen Hazarika, revered as the “Bard of Brahmaputra”, and social activist Nanaji Deshmukh, a former senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, have been declared winners of Bharat Ratna posthumously.
The announcement of the award came on the eve of India's Republic Day today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Pranab describing him as an “outstanding statesman of our times”.
"He [Pranab] has served the nation selflessly and tirelessly for decades, leaving a strong imprint on the nation's growth trajectory. His wisdom and intellect have a few parallels. Delighted that he has been conferred the Bharat Ratna,” Modi said in a separate Twitter post.
Pranab, who was one of the senior most Congress party leaders for decades, was India's 13th president from 2012 to 2017. He had also held the key portfolios of finance, defence and external affairs ministers under Congress governments.
For Bhupen Hazarika, whose compositions have delighted generations on both sides of Bengal, Modi tweeted: "the songs and music of Shri Bhupen Hazarika are admired by people across generations. From them radiates the message of justice, harmony and brotherhood. He popularised India's musical traditions globally.
“Happy that the Bharat Ratna has been conferred For Dr Bhupen Hazarika,” he said.
Bhupen Hazarika, also a recipient of prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padmashri and Padmabhushan, was earlier posthumously chosen for Padma Vibhushan, the Indian government's second-highest civilian honour, in 2012. He died in November 2011 at the age of 85.
Nanaji Deshmukh was a founding member of the Janata Party and one of the senior-most BJP members. He also played a crucial role in the social restructuring programme in 500 villages in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. He died in 2010 at the age of 93.
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