The push to confer Bharat Ratna to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar grew on Saturday after Union Ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan hoped that the central government would bestow India's highest civilian award on the veteran Janata Dal (United) leader.
"We are fully confident that the Prime Minister Modi Ji, who is known for stunning everyone with his decisions, will once again leave everyone stunned by deciding to confer the Bharat Ratna on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar," posted Manjhi in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter).
Similarly, Paswan said: "The way Bihar has progressed over the last two decades under the leadership of the current Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji, he is certainly deserving of this honour, I accept that. However, I believe that in India, the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, is not given based on demands or someone's wishes. There is a proper process behind it, and whoever meets the criteria through that process will definitely be awarded it."
Manjhi and Paswan's demand came after senior JD(U) leader KC Tyagi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bestow Bharat Ratna on Kumar. In a letter, the former MP called Kumar "a precious gem of the socialist movement" and said that he is "worthy of this honour".
He also thanked the government for bestowing Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and ex-Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, who he said had worked tirelessly to organise and empower farmers and members of the marginalised communities. Singh and Thakur, along with ex-PM Narasimha Rao and agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, were conferred Bharat Ratna by President Droupadi Murmu on March 30, 2024.
JD(U) distance itself from Tyagi's demand
It must be pointed out that the JD(U) has distanced itself from Tyagi's demand, with party national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad saying that the statement made by the former MP was his personal view and "not in line with the party's ideology".
In a statement, Prasad further said that the party office bearers are "not sure whether Tyagi holds any post" in the JD(U). Tyagi, who was a Lok Sabha MP from 1989-91 and a Rajya Sabha MP from 2013-16, has been associated with the JD(U) since its inception.
"The former party MP has made several statements in the recent past which have not been in line with the party's ideology and not the official stand. All statements made by him shall be deemed to have been made in his personal capacity," Prasad said.
