{"id":65591,"date":"2019-08-09T13:48:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T08:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=65591"},"modified":"2019-08-09T14:19:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T08:49:07","slug":"pranab-mukherjee-nanaji-deshmukh-bhupen-hazarika-awarded-bharat-ratna-gandhis-skipped-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/india-news\/pranab-mukherjee-nanaji-deshmukh-bhupen-hazarika-awarded-bharat-ratna-gandhis-skipped-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika awarded Bharat Ratna: Gandhis skipped the ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Former president Pranab Mukherjee, late Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh and late singer Bhupen Hazarika were conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award at a grand ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday (August 8).<\/span><\/p>\n President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the award to Mukherjee, Hazarika’s son Tej and Vikramjeet Singh, a close relative of Deshmukh as Hazarika and Deshmukh were given the Bharat Ratna posthumously.<\/span><\/p>\n Vice-President M Venkaikah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, several Union Cabinet ministers, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal were amongst those present at the event held at the imposing Durbar Hall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, News agency ANI reported that the most prominent members of Congress party: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were not present for the ceremony. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also not seen at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n The Bharat Ratna has been conferred after a gap of four years. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and founder of Banaras Hindu University Madan Mohan Malviya were given the award by the Narendra Modi government in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n Mukherjee (83) fondly known as ‘Pranab Da’, became the fifth president to receive the award. The elite club of former presidents who were awarded the nation’s highest civilian honour is Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Rajendra Prasad, Zakir Hussain and Varahagiri Venkata Giri.<\/span><\/p>\n Mukherjee (83) was the president of the country between 2012 and 2017. Prior to that, in 1982, at the age of 47, he became India’s youngest finance minister. From 2004, he went on to head three crucial ministries \u2014 external affairs, defence and finance \u2014 and became the first occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan to have this distinction.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Mukherjee expressing heartfelt gratitude for the honour tweeted, \u201cThe Bharat Ratna for me is also indeed an acknowledgment of the millions who strive every day to make Bharat \u2013 the diverse, plural, compassionate and inclusive idea that it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n