Bestow Bharat Ratna on Atal, Advani asks Centre

TIME FOR HONOUR? Advani has built a strong case for conferring the top civilian honour on Vajpayee.

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New Delhi: A month after he was anointed the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, LK Advani has urged the Centre to bestow the Bharat Ratna on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his contribution to the national polity and for his statesmanship.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani built a strong case for the top civilian honour to be conferred on Vajpayee. On his part, Vajpayee had sent a letter to the BJP President Rajnath Singh, asking for Advani's coronation..

"I would like to propose the name of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee for recognition with Bharat Ratna this year. His contribution to our national life is so varied and well-known, and sustained over such a long period, that it bears no reiteration," Advani said in his letter to the PM, which he sent last Saturday.

The national awards, including the Bharat Ratna, are announced on the eve of Republic Day on January 26.

Advani has listed 10 points commending his close associate of several decades from the Jan Sangh days to justify conferring of the country's highest civilian honour on the BJP patriarch.

Indira Gandhi was the only prime minister to have a received a Bharat Ratna when alive. Rajiv Gandhi was conferred a similar honour posthumously.

Advani regretted that in many instances government felt that there was none suitable to be conferred Bharat Ratna. "Sadly, there have also been instances when the award was not given even when such (suitable) illustrious Indians existed in our midst or when their names were suggested for posthumous recognition," he said.

Vajpayee was India's prime minister from 1998 to 2004. Asked if this signalled Vajpayee's retirement from active politics, BJP spokesman Prakash Javedakar said the former premier 'is our guiding star and will be our guiding star'.

(With agency inputs)