)
UPA ally NCP today did not favour Bharat Ratna for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, striking a different note amid the growing clamour for bestowing the honour on the former premier with NDA ally Akali Dal too joining the chorus.
"If we start honouring people occupying the post of Prime Minister with Bharat Ratna there will be a long queue for the decorated reward," NCP General Secretary and Union Minister Tariq Anwar told reporters in Patna.
"We respect Vajpayee. He served as Prime Minister of the country but there is hardly any distinguished work done by him," he said opposing the demand by BJP.
Asked if socialist leaders like Rammanohar Lohia and Karpoori Thakur deserved this honour, he said "if we start honouring everybody doing work in political and social field there will be no end to the queue."
Those who have been bestowed Bharat Ratna have done extraordinary work in their respective field which separated them from others, he said.
Three days after cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and noted scientist CNR Rao were named for the country's highest civilian honour, Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal said the Union Government must confer the Bharat Ratna on Vajpayee as he was the "most deserving" person for the honour".
Interacting with reporters at Rakhra in Patiala district, Badal said Vajpayee was an able administrator, a true statesman and above all the only political stalwart with undisputed credentials of secularism, who kept the nation united by demonstrating real democratic spirit and strengthening the ethos of national integration, communal harmony, peace and amity.
Asked whether Vajpayee also deserved the nation's highest civilian award, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said, "Vajpayee is a tall leader and a proper decision should be taken keeping in mind the sentiments of the people.
