LK Advani To Be Awarded Bharat Ratna; Check Full List Of Awardees From 1954 to 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister LK Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Modi wrote, "One of the most respected statesmen of our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a life that started from working at the grassroots to serving the nation as our Deputy Prime Minister." [sic]

India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna has been conferred upon 50 individuals to date, including 17 posthumously. The award was established in 1954. Here's a list of Bharat Ratna Awardees:

• Lal Krishna Advani (politician and former deputy prime minister) - 2024

• Karpoori Thakur (Posthumous) (politician and former Bihar chief minister) - 2024

• Pranab Mukherjee (politician and former President of India) - 2019

• Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika (Posthumous) (playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, and film-maker) - 2019

• Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous) (social activist) - 2019

• Madan Mohan Malaviya (Posthumous) (Scholar and educational reformer) - 2015

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee (politician and former Prime Minister of India) - 2015

• Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (cricketer) - 2014

• C. N. R. Rao (chemist and professor) - 2014

• Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Hindustani classical vocalist) - 2009

• Ustad Bismillah Khan (Hindustani classical shehnai player) - 2001

• Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (playback singer) - 2001

• Ravi Shankar (sitar player) - 1999

• Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) (Independence activist) - 1999

• Amartya Sen (economist) - 1999

• Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) (Independence activist, social reformer) - 1999

• Chidambaram Subramaniam (Independence activist) - 1998

• Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Carnatic classical vocalist) -1998

• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Aerospace, defence scientist and former President of India) -1997

• Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) (Independence activist) - 1997

• Gulzari Lal Nanda (Independence activist) - 1997

• Satyajit Ray (Filmmaker) - 1992

• Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (Industrialist) - 1992

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) (Independence activist) -1992

• Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (Independence activist and Prime Minister of India) - 1991

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (Independence activist) - 1991

• Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (politician and former Prime Minister of India) -1991

• Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (anti-apartheid activist) - 1990

• Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (Social reformer) -1990

• Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (actor turned politician) -1988

• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Independence activist) -1987

• Vinoba Bhave (Posthumous) (Independence activist, social reformer) -1983

• Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) (founder of the Missionaries of Charity) - 1980

• Kumaraswamy Kamraj (Posthumous) (politician and former Tamil Nadu chief minister) - 1976

• Varahagiri Venkata Giri (Independence activist and former Prseident of India) - 1975

• Indira Gandhi (politician and former Prime Minister of India) - 1971

• Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (Independence activist and former Prime Minister of India) - 1966

• Pandurang Vaman Kane (Indologist and Sanskrit scholar) - 1963

• Zakir Husain (Independence activist) - 1963

• Rajendra Prasad (Independence activist, lawyer, statesman, scholar and former President of India) - 1962

• Purushottam Das Tandon (Independence activist) - 1961

• Bidhan Chandra Roy (physician, political leader, philanthropist, educationist, and social worker) - 1961

• Dhondo Keshav Karve (Social reformer and educator) - 1958

• Govind Ballabh Pant (Independence activist) - 1957

• Jawaharlal Nehru (Independence activist, author and former Prime Minister of India) - 1955

• Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Civil engineer, statesman, and Diwan of Mysore) - 1955

• Bhagwan Das (Independence activist, philosopher, and educationist) - 1955

• Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (physicist) - 1954

• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (philosopher, politician and former President of India) - 1954

• Chakaravarti Rajagopalachari (statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activist) - 1954

Modi spoke to the BJP's longest-serving president, who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and congratulated him.

Advani's parliamentary interventions have always been exemplary and full of rich insights, Modi said.