We will confer Bharat Ratna on Vajpayee if we win: BJP

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of not looking beyond the "Nehru-Gandhi family", even while deciding on the Bharat Ratna.

New Delhi: **FILE** Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi greets senior BJP leader and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a function in New Delhi in Dec 2003. Modi was on Friday declared as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate in 2014, after a meeting of the party's Parliamentary board. PTI Photo (PTI9_13_2013_000198A)

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said it would confer the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee if it comes to power after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing reporters here, party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of not looking beyond the “Nehru-Gandhi family”, even while deciding on the Bharat Ratna.

“But when we come to power, Mr. Vajpayee will be given his due,” he said, pointing out that those from the “family” were the first to be given the prestigious award, irrespective of their contributions.

He cited the examples of Sardar Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who were conferred the award many years after their death.

Taking on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for describing the BJP as “ chor (thieves)”, Mr. Prasad said he [Mr. Gandhi] often spoke of his legacy but had failed to learn anything from it. “I have never heard Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi or even Rajiv Gandhi use the kind of language he uses,” Mr. Prasad said.

Raising the issue of the Darbha attack in which senior Congress leaders were killed, Mr. Prasad demanded that the NIA report be made public so that the truth behind the attack is revealed.