‘Bharat Ratna Given to the Dead’: Rajasthan Congress Leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on LK Advani

Rajasthan: Post the announcement of the Bharat Ratna award for senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former deputy prime minister of India Lal Krishna Advani, reactions have been pouring in from all quarters. 

While some people have hailed LK Advani as the right choice for India’s highest civilian honour, others have objected to it.

Today, a video has gone viral of Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa speaking in distaste about the senior BJP leader LK Advani being awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Randhawa said in the video that the Bharat Ratna is “given to the dead”. He also questioned why LK Advani was not present at the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony on January 22 this year, when he was the one behind the Ram Mandir Rath Yatra in 1990.

The Congress leader is heard speaking in Hindi in the video, saying, “Agar inko itna hee Ram Mandir ka tha, toh Advani ji ko saath lekar jaate…jinhone pehle Rath Yatra ki thi. Unko toh de diya Bharat Ratna. Bharat Ratna toh mare huon ko diya jaata hai.” (If the Ram Mandir ceremony was so big for the BJP, they should have taken Advani ji, who had done the Rath Yatra. He is being given the Bharat Ratna. The Bharat Ratna is given to the dead.)

LK Advani had been invited to the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony. However, the 96-year-old decided to not to attend the event in Ayodhya due to severe cold weather.