President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna on former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.

Their kin received the awards at a ceremony held at Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Narasimha Rao’s son PV Prabhakar Rao received the country’s highest civilian award from the president, while Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary accepted the honour bestowed on Charan Singh, his grandfather. Swaminathan’s daughter Nitya Rao and Thakur’s son Ram Nath Thakur accepted the awards from Murmu.

Charan Singh died in 1987, Thakur in 1988, Rao in 2004 and Swaminathan in September 2023.

On February 3, Modi announced that BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna.

Advani did not attend the ceremony on Saturday on account of his health. Murmu will present the award to him tomorrow at his residence, India Today reported.