Advani wants Bharat Ratna for Vajpayee

The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting that Atal Behari Vajpayee be conferred the Bharat Ratna on Republic Day. Advani’s letter states that Vajpayee had the longest Parliamentary career among living MPs, had served as Prime Minister for the longest time after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and had led the most stable coalition Government, disproving the notion that coalitions were inherently unstable.

The letter further states that Vajpayee had served Indian democracy by standing up against the Emergency, and distinguished himself as an Opposition leader by never shying away from backing the Government whenever national interest was at stake. This, the letter states, included his support to Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war and after Pokharan-I in 1974, and to the Narsimha Rao Government on economic reforms.

The letter says that Vajpayee as Prime Minister made India a nuclear power with Pokharan II. “As PM, he not only extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan, but also led India to victory in Kargil”.

The letter credits Vajpayee with strengthening India’s security and leading the country on the path of development with the National Highway Development Project, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, IT and Telecom revolution. Advani’s letter also commends Vajpayee’s role in officially reaching out to the Indian diaspora for the first time.