How Jayant Singh And Akhilesh Yadav Reacted To Chaudhary Charan Singh Being Awarded Bharat Ratna (image-facebook/Akhilesh Yadav)

In a press conference, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Singh hailed PM Modi for conferring India”s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna posthumously to his grandfather and former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The award is also conferred to P V Narasimha Rao, another former Prime Minister, along with renowned agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan among others.

All praise for PM Modi, Singh said and added, “What previous governments could not do till today has been completed by PM Modi”s vision. I would like to once again express my gratitude to PM Modi”s government for encouraging the people who are not part of the mainstream.”

This comes amidst speculations about the RLD chief exiting the Samajwadi Party alliance to join hands with the BJP. Several reports also claim that seat-sharing between the BJP and the RLD is close to being finalized for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP”s move to award Chaudhary Charan Singh is also being seen as the party”s outreach to the Jat community ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and MLA Akhilesh Yadav also expressed his happiness with the government”s decision. He congratulated all farmer leaders who had demanded the award several times in the past. “The Samajwadi Party also demanded that Chaudhary Charan Singh should be given Bharat Ratna,” he said.

He further added, “Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) had installed his statue in front of this Vidhan Sabha…We are happy that a farmer leader has been awarded the Bharat Ratna.”

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Hindutva icon LK Advani and former Chief Minister of Bihar and social justice champion Karpoori Thakur have also been conferred the prestigious award recently. The Modi government”s recognition of political figures belonging to different communities has been remarked as a strategic political move to cater to different sections of the society with the elections incoming.