Bharat Ratna to Vajpayee

Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was conferred the country's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, at a special function at his residence. In a rare departure from protocol, President Pranab Mukherjee, himself a veteran parliamentarian, drove to Vajpayee's residence at Krishna Menon Marg in Lutyens' Delhi to confer the honour at a simple ceremony as the latter is ailing and has been out of public life.

The brief event took place in the presence of select dignitaries including Vice-President Hamid Ansari, PM Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh and close family members that included his foster daughter Namita and foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya.

The citation read out at the occasion described Vajpayee as a statesman known for a subtle sharpness that engaged, attracted and brought many together. In his six-decade-long political career, five of them in Parliament, Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha 10 times and twice to Rajya Sabha. Prime minister from 1998 to 2004, Vajpayee has faded from public life due to age-related illness. The event was kept out of media glare.

Considered the moderate face of BJP, he has been credited with taking bold initiatives for forging good ties with Pakistan which included a historic bus journey to Lahore in 1999 when he signed the landmark Lahore Declaration with Nawaz Sharif with both sides pledging to push for peace and security.

After the presentation of award, a tea was hosted for leaders who were invited for the function that included former President A P J Abdul Kalam, former PM Manmohan Singh, BJP leader L K Advani, Arun Jaitley, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav and CMs Parkash Singh Badal (Punjab), Mufti Mohammed Sayeed (J&K), N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan).