New Delhi:

President Droupadi Murmu today conferred Bharat Ratna to five eminent persons, including two former Prime Ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh) and PV Narasimha Rao.

Former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur and agriculturist MS Swaminathan were also conferred with the country’s highest civilian award.

The central government has announced five candidates for the BJP this year, which also includes BJP leader LK Advani.

Sources said President Murmu will visit the residence of senior BJP leader LK Advani and confer the prestigious award on him. They added that the decision was taken in view of senior BJP leader Advani’s poor health.

Former Prime Minister Charan Singh’s award was collected by his grandson Jayant Singh and PV Narasimha Rao’s award was collected by his son PV Prabhakar Rao.

Ms Swaminathan’s daughter Nitya Rao received the award on behalf of her father, while Karpoori Thakur’s award was presented by his son Ram ·Received by Ram Nath Thakur.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP state president JP Nadda, Congress leaders and LoP Mallikarjun Kharge among other leaders.

Narsimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921 in Karimnagar, Telangana, and was an agriculturist and advocate who later joined politics and held some important positions. He served as Minister of Law and Information, 1962-64; Law and Endowments, 1964-67; Health and Medicine, 1967; and Education, 1968-71, Government of Andhra Pradesh. He served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971-73 and as General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in 1975-76.

As a plant geneticist, Swaminathan’s significant contributions to India’s agricultural sector earned him a reputation as the scientific leader of India’s Green Revolution movement. His work was instrumental in the renaissance of agriculture in India.

LK Advani was born on November 8, 1927 in Karachi (now Pakistan) and served as the longest-serving president of the Bharatiya Janata Party since its inception in 1980. During his nearly three decades of parliamentary career, he was: first as Home Minister and later as Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004).

Karpoori Thakur was born in 1924 in the Nai Samaj, one of the most backward classes of society. He was an outstanding leader whose political career was characterized by an unwavering commitment to marginalized groups in society. He served as chief minister of Bihar and was a key figure in the fight against social discrimination and inequality. His commitment to affirmative action provided representation and opportunity to the country’s poor, oppressed, exploited and disenfranchised groups.

Chaudhary Charan Singh was born in 1902 in a middle-class peasant family in Nurpur, Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh. In 1929, he moved to Meerut and later joined the Congress Party. He was first elected to the UP Legislative Assembly from Chhaprauli in 1937 and represented this constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967. In 1946, he became Parliamentary Secretary in the government of Pandit Govind Balabha Pant and worked in various departments including revenue, health and public sector.health, justice, information, etc.

In June 1951, he was appointed state cabinet minister, responsible for the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Information. In 1952, he took over as Minister of Revenue and Agriculture in the Sampu Nannan cabinet. When he resigned in April 1959, he was in charge of the Department of Revenue and Transport.

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