On the occasion of his 87 birthday on Saturday, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee received accolades of different kind from his fellow Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party members. They demanded that the ailing leader, the first non-Congress prime minister to reign for five years, be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest honour.
After visiting Vajpayee’s official residence to greet him, senior BJP leaders raised the demand for a Bharat Ratna for him. “Vajpayee deserves the Bharat Ratna for his contribution to the country,” senior leader Rajnath Singh said. “The country can never forget Vajpayee’s contribution to parliamentary democracy. I humbly request the government of India to honour him with the Bharat Ratna.”
Echoing his views, party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy described Vajpayee as a “symbol of acceptance” and demanded that the government honour him with the award. Vajpayee’s former cabinet colleague Jaswant Singh held the same view. “At a time when there is a steady decline of values in politics, Vajpayee upheld commitments to these values for the last 55 years,” he said.
Jaswant Singh also expressed his “sense of gratitude” to the former prime minister and to the party for having given him the opportunity to serve the country under him. At the same time, he expressed his concern about Vajpayee’s health.
Another BJP spokesman, Shahnawaz Hussain, described Vajpayee as a “living legend” and the “tallest leader” in Asia and reiterated that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on him. “Everyone should rise above party affiliation to support him for the honour as there is no bigger leader than him today,” he said.
