The Narendra Modi Government on Friday added three other national luminaries — former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, and agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan — to the list of recipients of the Bharat Ratna awards, bringing the total number of announcements for the nation’s highest civilian honour to five within a span of 15 days.

The awards have been conferred upon distinguished personalities, including LK Advani and Karpoori Thakur, which has also changed political alignments ahead of the Lok Sabha polls as the NDA Government is betting on for a hat-trick.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, as well as agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

Modi, who took to microblogging platform X to make the announcement, lauded the contributions made by the three awardees. Later, the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a press communique said the President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to the three eminent persons.

The Modi Government’s move to recognise two stalwart politicians who came from non-BJP backgrounds is resonant with political and social messaging. It is expected to boost the BJP’s efforts to present itself as a party that represents pan-India interests and aspirations and recognises leading people in different fields.

Making the announcements for Rao, whose liberalisation policies revolutionised the economy, Singh, a champion of farmer causes, and Swaminathan, a globally renowned agricultural scientist, Modi lauded their contributions to the country.

The conferring of the highest civilian award to Singh, Rao, and Swaminathan is likely to make a big impact in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, particularly among farmers and Telangana. Today, the politically powerful Jats have the potential of influencing results in nearly 40 Lok Sabha seats and around 160 Assembly seats, spread across UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

Rao was the Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996 and is known to be the man who heralded the economic liberalisation of India. Singh, a champion of workers and farmers’ rights, briefly served as the Prime Minister in 1979. Swaminathan, a renowned scientist, is known as the architect of India’s green revolution.

The decision stirred a range of reactions from political figures across party lines, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who said she “welcomes” the announcement of giving the Bharat Ratna to Rao.

The Government had earlier named former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, a champion of backward empowerment, and LK Advani, a founding BJP member credited with charting the course of its rise through the 1990s, for the country’s highest civilian honour.

Modi has also sought to send out the message that the ruling BJP, unlike its predecessors at the helm, is not guided by parochial politics in recognising contributions in public life, as the party looks to break new ground during the polls.

At five, one more than the four announced in 1999, this is the maximum number of Bharat Ratnas announced for a year. Four of the five awards this year are posthumous. Advani, 96, is the only one alive.

“Narasimha Rao steered India through critical transformations and also enriched its cultural and intellectual heritage,” Modi said in his social media posts.

Rao’s visionary leadership, Modi said, was instrumental in making India economically advanced and laid a solid foundation for its prosperity and growth. “Bharat Ratna to Charan Singh is dedicated to his incomparable contribution to the country,” the Prime Minister said.

“Swaminathan made monumental contributions to the country in agriculture and farmers’ welfare,” Modi said. He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture and made outstanding efforts in modernising it, the Prime Minister said.

Singh, a Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh who was Prime Minister in 1979-80, was one of the pioneers of anti-Congress politics at a time when the party was a hegemonic political force.

Congress leader Rao, a Telugu, who was Prime Minister for a full five-year term during 1991-96, is widely recognised for ushering in economic reforms.

“It is our Government’s fortune that Singh is being honoured with the Bharat Ratna, and it is dedicated to his incomparable contributions to the country,” Modi said.

Be it as an MLA, as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, or the country’s Home Minister, he always sped up the nation-building exercise and also stood strongly against the Emergency, he added. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed the Emergency in 1975.

Singh’s dedication to farmers and commitment to democracy during the Emergency inspires the country, the Prime Minister said. The honour for Singh comes at a time when the RLD, led by his grandson Jayant Singh, is believed to be in talks with the BJP for an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May.

Singh died in 1987. Paying rich tributes to Rao, who passed away in 2004, Modi said he served the country extensively in various capacities as a distinguished scholar and statesman.

He said Rao is equally remembered for the work he did as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a Union Minister, and as a lawmaker in Parliament and the Assembly for many years. “His visionary leadership was instrumental in making India economically advanced, laying a solid foundation for the country’s prosperity and growth,” Modi said.

“Rao’s tenure as Prime Minister was marked by significant measures that opened India to global markets, fostering a new era of economic development,” he added.

Modi said Rao’s contributions to India’s foreign policy, language, and education sectors underscore his multifaceted legacy as a leader who not only steered India through critical transformations but also enriched its cultural and intellectual heritage.

Rao’s admirers have long argued that he has not been given his due by the Congress due to his less than warm relations with the Nehru-Gandhi family, a point often made by BJP leaders too.

As the country’s first and only full-term Prime Minister from South India, Rao occupies a special place in the region. Modi said it is a matter of immense joy that his Government is conferring the Bharat Ratna on Swaminathan in recognition of his monumental contributions to the nation in agriculture and farmers’ welfare.

“He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times and made outstanding efforts towards modernising Indian agriculture. We also recognise his invaluable work as an innovator and mentor and encouraging learning and research among several students,” he said.