President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious Bharat Ratna posthumously on former Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, and two-time former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.
The President bestowed India’s highest civilian honour at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.
The central government announced five names for the Bharat Ratna this year, which also included BJP leader LK Advani.
Ex-PM Charan Singh’s award was received by his grandson, Jayant Singh, and PV Narasimha Rao’s award was received by his son, PV Prabhakar Rao.
MS Swaminathan’s daughter, Nitya Rao, received the award on behalf of her father, and Karpoori Thakur’s award was received by his son, Ram Nath Thakur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, Congress leader and LoP Mallikarjun Kharge were present among other leaders on the occasion.