Former Prime Minister and veteran leader of Congress P V Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of the country, Chaudhary Charan Singh and agricultural scientist Dr. MS Swaminathan will be conferred with the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday. Taking to X, PM Modi said that as a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao served India extensively in various capacities.
“It is the good fortune of our government that former Prime Minister of the country Chaudhary Charan Singh is being honoured with Bharat Ratna. This honour is dedicated to his incomparable contribution to the country. He had dedicated his entire life to the rights and welfare of farmers. Be it the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh or the Home Minister of the country, even as an MLA, he always gave impetus to nation-building. He also stood firm against the Emergency. His dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters and his commitment to democracy during the Emergency are inspiring to the entire nation,” PM posted on X.
Dr. MS Swaminathan has been recognized for his monumental contributions to the nation in agriculture and farmers’ welfare. He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times and made outstanding efforts towards modernizing Indian agriculture. He is also recognised for his invaluable work as an innovator and mentor and encouraging learning and research among several students. Dr. Swaminathan’s visionary leadership has not only transformed Indian agriculture but also ensured the nation’s food security and prosperity. He was someone I knew closely and l always valued his insights and inputs.
PM Modi said, “Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities. He is equally remembered for the work he did as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister, and as a Member of Parliament and Legislative Assembly for many years. His visionary leadership was instrumental in making India economically advanced, laying a solid foundation for the country’s prosperity and growth,”.
“Narasimha Rao Garu’s tenure as Prime Minister was marked by significant measures that opened India to global markets, fostering a new era of economic development. Furthermore, his contributions to India’s foreign policy, language and education sectors underscore his multifaceted legacy as a leader who not only steered India through critical transformations but also enriched its cultural and intellectual heritage,” he added.
Born on June 28, 1921, in Karimnagar, Telangana, being an agriculturist and an advocate, Narsimha Rao joined politics and held some important portfolios. A man of many interests, his special interest was in Indian philosophy and culture, writing fiction and political commentary, learning languages, writing poems in Telugu and Hindi and keeping abreast of literature in general. He successfully published ‘SahasraPhan’, a Hindi translation of late Viswanatha Satyanarayana’s famous Telegu Novel ‘Veyi Padagalu’; ‘Abala Jeevitam’, Telugu translation of late Hari Narayan Apte’s famous Marathi Novel, “Pan Lakshat Kon gheto”. He translated other famous works from Marathi to Telugu and from Telugu to Hindi, and published many articles in different magazines. He lectured at universities in the U.S.A. and West Germany on political matters and allied subjects.
Rao is credited with bringing many economic reforms in the country, particularly for dismantling the License Raj in the country. It was during Rao’s term that he appointed Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister, who ushered in a series of economic reforms to lift the country from a worsening economic crisis. Rao was a six-time MP and died at the age of 83 in 2004
The Prime Minister further announced that agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan and former PM PV Narasimha Rao will also be conferred with Bharat Ratna. This exemplifies the Modi government’s commitment to the agricultural sector, as reflected by the selection of two out of three awardees, Chaudhary Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan, who have significantly championed the cause of agriculture.
Two of the awardees, Narsimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, come from non-BJP backgrounds, indicating Prime Minister Modi’s belief in conferring national honours in a very party-agnostic manner. Narasimha Rao and MS Swaminathan, hail from South India, showing that the Prime Minister values the contributions and expertise from all corners of the country.
Charan Singh was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, in a middle class peasant family. He graduated in science in 1923 and did his post-graduation at Agra University in 1925. Also trained in law, he set up practice in Ghaziabad. He shifted to Meerut in 1929 and later joined the Congress.
He was first elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli, and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967. He became Parliamentary Secretary in Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s Government in 1946 and worked in various departments such as Revenue, Medical and Public Health, Justice, Information etc. (ANI)