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Congress national spokesperson Subharansh Kumar Rai said the Telangana Assembly demanding Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh is fitting.
Former PM Manmohan Singh (PTI/File)
Following a resolution in the Telangana Assembly urging the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna on Manmohan Singh, many in the Congress party called for bestowing the India’s highest civilian award on the former Prime Minister. Congress Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said as per The Indian Express, “I urge the Centre to accept the resolution. Manmohanji was a great leader of our country and he should be awarded the Bharat Ratna.”
Congress national spokesperson Subharansh Kumar Rai said the Telangana Assembly demanding Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh is fitting as he championed causes like the Right to Education, Right to Information, MNREGA, among others. “It is only fitting that the country’s highest honour is bestowed upon him,” he said.
The resolution in the Telangana Assembly comes after the BJP levelled allegations against Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and said that in 2013 the party did not respond to a recommendation by former President Pranab Mukherjee for conferring the Bharat Ratna on Manmohan Singh.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “Instead of passing resolutions in the Assembly, Reddy should ask Sonia Gandhi, as disclosed by Sharmishtha Mukherjeeji, why was a similar proposal floated by Pranab and sent to (Singh’s principal secretary) Pulok Chatterjee not taken forward in a proper manner? Why was the Bharat Ratna not conferred upon the first Sikh PM of India? It only shows that the (Gandhi) family is insecure of any non-Nehru-Gandhi PM.”
Manmohan Singh passed away last week at the age of 92 and was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat.
