Telangana CM wants Centre to confer Bharat Ratna on former PM

Hyderabad, June 23 (PTI): TelanganaChief Minister
K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said the state cabinet and
legislature would pass resolutions requesting Bharat Ratna
award to former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
     The chief minister said he would meet Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to make the request.
Rao recently decided to organise the centenary
celebrations of Narasimha Rao on a grand scale.
Today, he unveiled the plans for the celebrations.
     PV was such a leader that the country should be
proud of. He had changed the countrys destiny for the
better. PV is completely eligible to get the Bharat Ratna
award, the highest civilian award, constituted by the
Centre, an official release quoted the chief minister as
saying.
     The Cabinet and the legislature would pass
resolutions demanding Bharat Ratna award to Narasimha Rao
posthumously and they will be sent to the Centre, it said.
     I will personally meet Modi and request him to
confer Bharat Ratna on PV, he said.
     On June 28, the birth anniversary of Narasimha
Rao, the main programme would be organised at PV Gnana
Bhoomi (the samadhi of the former Prime Minister) in
Hyderabad, while it would also be held at 50 locations
worldwide around the same time, the release said.
     The Chief Minister held a meeting with
ministers, officials, Narasimha Rao centenary celebrations
committee chairman and TRS MP K Keshav Rao and Narasimha
Raos son Prabhakar Rao and daughter Vani Devi.
     PV has a history by which every Telanganite can
proudly say PV is Telanganas pride. Organise a wide range of
programmes for one year on PVs greatness; his services and
they should be known worldwide, the Chief Minister said.
     Suggesting organising programmes at the national
level to make people in the country understand the greatness
of Narasimha Rao, the Chief Minister said President Ram Nath
Kovind and Modi should be invited for the celebrations.
     Stating that the economic reforms steered by
Narasimha Rao have changed the country for the better, the
Chief Minister said a special souvenir should be published
with articles written by eminent economists on what was the
economic situation in the country before Narasimha Rao and
after he became the Prime Minister.
Recalling that Narasimha Rao had a good
relationship with former US President Bill Clinton and former
British Prime Minister John Major and other world leaders,
the Chief Minister suggested obtaining their opinions too
and, if possible, making them participate in the
celebrations.
     He suggested putting up hoardings at key places in
Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru and 100 hoardings in
Hyderabad to make the entire country realise the greatness of
Narasimha Rao.
     He directed that a PV Memorial Award be given to
those who have made outstanding contributions in the fields
of education, literature, politics and others.
     Among other directives, the Chief Minister also
instructed that special programmes be organised once
educational institutions in the state resume and students
made to participate in them. PTI SJR
NVG NVG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)