President Droupadi Murmu on March 30 conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

The awards to Rao, Singh, Thakur and Swaminathan were received by their kin.

P.V. Prabhakar Rao, son of former Prime Minister Rao, received the award conferred on his father from the President.

Jayant Chaudhary, Singh's grandson and the president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), accepted the honour from Ms. Murmu.

Swaminathan's daughter Nitya Rao and Thakur's son Ram Nath Thakur received the award from the President.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries were present at the ceremony.

The government had announced five Bharat Ratna awards this year, including one to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani.

Source: The Hindu