New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, March 30th conferred the Bharat Ratna to five eminent personalities- former prime ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao, veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy prime minister LK Advani, eminent agricultural scientist and architect of Green Revolution MS Swaminathan, and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.
A video that has received a series of netizens' responses shows Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meeting and greeting PM Modi, BJP President JP Nadda during Bharat Ratna presentation ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the video it could be seen that despite Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was present right there, Nitish Kumar didn't greet him or make an eye contact with him. Mallikarjun Kharge too did not react or extend any greetings.
Watch video here:
The awkward exchange f gesture didn't miss the glances of the Netizens who reacted to the video.
This awkwardness seems to be limited just to Congress as in February 2024, a video went viral on social media which showed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar exchanging an informal and cordial gesture with RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. This was the first interaction between Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav after Nitish Kumar switched his political inclination to join hands with the NDA.
After the change of power in Bihar and Nitish Kumar's re-entry into NDA, he had bumped into Lalu Prasad Yadav face to face for the first time on when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had reached the assembly with his wife Rabri Devi. The occasion was the process of filing nominations by RJD candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. During this time, when Lalu Prasad reached the portico of the Assembly, at the same time Nitish Kumar was returning after participating in the proceedings of the House. During this, both the leaders met at the entrance. On seeing Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar first smiled in his familiar style and then went closer and met Lalu Prasad.
Watch the February 2024 video here
The central government had announced five names for the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, this year. PM Modi announced that former PMs Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. Along with them, MS Swaminathan, also known as the father of the green revolution, will also be awarded the country's highest civilian award. The government also bestowed the honour on veteran BJP leader LK Advani and former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur. This year, a total of five people have been honoured with Bharat Ratna, the maximum since 1999, when four were given the award.
