Former President and senior Congress leader Dr Pranab Mukherjee has been conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the Rashtrapati Bhawan announced on Friday, 25 January. Nanaji Deshmukh and Dr Bhupen Hazarika have also been conferred with the title posthumously.
Mukherjee accepted the honour and said that he has received more from the people of the country than he has given to them.
“It is with a deep sense of humility and gratitude to people of India that I accept this great honour, Bharat Ratna bestowed upon me. I've always said and I repeat, that I've got more from the people of our great country than I have given to them,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate and praise the awardees in three separate tweets.
Dr Pranab Mukherjee, who served as the 13th President of India from 2012-2017 has been a firebrand Congress leader in a career spanning five decades. He has held various portfolios in the Centre including finance and external affairs.
Bhupen Hazarika was a playback singer, poet, musician and film-maker from Assam. His songs were marked by humanity and brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi.
Nanaji Deshmukh was a social activist noted in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was also a Padma Vibhushan awardee. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also a member of the Rajya Sabha.
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