Bharat Ratna: Honour for champions of economic reforms and farmers but Modi's political message is clear

Swaminathan's strategy saw India's agriculture output shoot up because Swaminathan worked as a scientist in collaboration with American agronomist Norman Borlaug for provision of  high-yielding seed varieties, adequate irrigation facilities and fertilisers to farmers in regions of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

Years later, as the head of the National Commission on Farmers from 2004-06, he recommended that the Minimum Support Price at which farmers sell their crops to the government should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production.

Not a day passes with every farmers’ union clamouring for implementation of the Swaminathan formula to determine the MSP for all produce. It may not be a coincidence that the award for Swaminathan comes when a call for an all-India strike has been jointly given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and various farm unions in support of their pending demands, including legal guarantee for their procurement and amendments to the electricity bill.

Why Rao, Charan Singh, Advani and Karpoori

On the other hand, in an election year, the Bharat Ratna award for Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh is not just for their contributions. It is Modi's way of refurbishing the electorate's memory about how they defied the Nehru-Gandhi family, strengthening the BJP's narrative about the Congress under Sonia Gandhi-Rahul Gandhi dispensation.

Earlier, the Centre had announced the Bharat Ratna for veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur. Advani was the face of the BJP's Ram Temple movement that saw the events of 1992 when the disputed structure was brought down by mobs. Later, the movement took the shape of a protracted legal wrangle that culminated in a Supreme Court verdict, which paved the way for opening up of a grand temple. But for Advani, it wouldn't have happened the way it did.

The role of Karpoor Thakur is even more significant. He was not just the face of Other Backward Class (OBC) politics. He was a strong critic of the Congress and remained the bulwark of the anti-Congress movement in Bihar. As the first OBC CM of Bihar, Thakur was the first to introduce a quota for OBCs in the state.

Appropriating Narasimha Rao 

Narasimha Rao was the first Congress PM outside the Nehru-Gandhi family. He showed political courage by introducing the first wave of liberalisation in 1991 and worked for changes in industry till 1996 when his government lost the polls.

During his challenging years as PM, Rao fended off challenges from Sharad Pawar and other Congress leaders like Arjun Singh who claimed proximity to Sonia Gandhi. Rao's tenure was marked by the critical restriction of the influence of her family and their courtiers, which made him a hero for the contemporary anti-Congress leaders.

Rao was faulted by Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders for his alleged failure to save the dispute structure in Ayodhya but his skills as a reformist outshone his shortcomings. Sonia Gandhi and her loyalists openly disowned his legacy once the Congress failed to win the 1996 Lok Sabha polls, which led to the formation of a coalition of sorts under HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral, supported by the Congress from outside.

However, Rao remained a tall leader for his loyalists like Dr Manmohan Singh and a proud son for the people of the undivided Andhra Pradesh until his death in December 2004. The BJP claims that the Congress leadership dishonoured him by not allowing his body to be placed in the AICC headquarters. Sonia Gandhi's closest aide Ahmed Patel ensured that the family opt for cremation in Hyderabad.

The award for Rao comes when Andhra Pradesh goes to polls along with the Lok Sabha election in April-May this year.  In Telangana, the clamour for Bharat Ratna for Rao has been a long standing demand of parties like K Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Charan Singh’s Relevance

In the case of Charan Singh, who wrecked India's first non-Congress government led by PM Morarji Desai by falling for support offered by Indira Gandhi to make him PM for just 24 weeks, the honour underscores his relevance as a "Kulak neta" even today -- because of his tall standing among the Jat community.

Charan Singh remained a caretaker PM for six months – till the Lok Sabha polls in 1980. Charan Singh maintained that Indira Gandhi withdrew support to him because he was not ready to be blackmailed into withdrawing Emergency-related cases against her instituted by Morarji Desai government in 1977-78.

However, for those who value his politics, he remains a prominent face of the anti-Congressism of the 1970s and his contributions to the farmers as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh remains to this day a show of his diehard commitment for the agricultural class.

Modi also chose to honour Charan Singh in the backdrop of the BJP's efforts to rope in Jayant Chowdhury, his grandson and leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) into NDA before this year's polls. A deal between RLD and BJP is said to be on cards, which will impact the outcome in Western UP.

There has always been politics in the award and denial of Bharat Ratna before. But this year's awards are clear pointers to Modi's brand of politics.

Shekhar Iyer was senior associate editor of Hindustan Times and political editor of Deccan Herald. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.