Bharat Ratna for Nitish? His party distances itself from demand, says ex-MP's letter to PM Modi ‘in personal capacity'
KC Tyagi said, in a letter to the PM, that Nitish Kumar is a "precious gem" of the socialist movement, thus worthy of India's highest civilian honour
Nitish Kumar's party has distanced itself from a prominent demand for the Bihar Chief Minister to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
Reacting two days after former Janata Dal (United) MP KC Tyagi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider bestowing the Bharat Ratna Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) on Saturday said the statement was "not in line with the party's ideology". Nitish Kumar has not yet reacted to it.
Tyagi had said, in a letter to the PM on Thursday, that Nitish Kumar is a "precious gem" of the socialist movement, thus worthy of the highest civilian honour.
Asked about Tyagi's letter, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said, “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.”
Office-bearers in the JD(U) are "not sure whether Tyagi continues to hold any post in the party", he said, as a report by news agency PTI.
Who demanded the award for Nitish?
Tyagi has been with the JD(U) since its inception two and a half decades ago from a larger socialist grouping.
A protege of Charan Singh — the former PM who was also awarded the Bharat Ratna by the Modi government — KC Tyagi was known to be close to Sharad Yadav, a former JD(U) president who was disowned by the party in 2017.
Sharad Yadav later went on to float another outfit and merged it with the RJD shortly before his death, while Tyagi chose to align with Nitish Kumar.
Charan Singh connection
Tyagi referred to the award to Charan Singh. "March 30, 2024 was a day to honour our ancestors. Thanks to your efforts, they were bestowed with the highest honour," Tyagi said in his letter to the PM. It was on March 30 two years ago that President Droupadi Murmu had awarded the Bharat Ratna to former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously, at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"Impressed by your efforts, I humbly request that Nitish Kumar, a precious gem of the socialist movement, is also worthy of this honour. Many heroes have received this honour during their lifetime," Tyagi said in the letter.
"On behalf of millions of people, I hope and request that our beloved leader Nitish Kumar be bestowed with this honour so that history remembers your efforts," the former JD(U) MP added.
Nitish, among the longest serving CMs in the country, retained the chair in a landslide win for the JD(U) and BJP in Bihar late last year. His party is also a key component of the ruling NDA as the BJP failed to win majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
