Bharat Ratna announced for former PM Ch. Charan Singh, “Dil Jeet Diya”, says Jayant Ch.

The highest civilian honour in India, the Bharat Ratna, has been bestowed upon the late former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, posthumously, the government announced on Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the great farmer leader for his "incomparable contributions" and announced the award on X. “He dedicated his life to the welfare of farmers... whether as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh or Home Minister of the country, and even as MLA, he always gave impetus to nation-building. He stood against the Emergency (and) his dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters is inspiring” said PM Modi in his post on X.

While fighting for freedom from the British government nonviolently alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Charan Singh was imrprisioned several times. For breaking the salt rules, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the British in 1930. For the individual Satyagraha movement , he was once more imprisoned for a year in November 1940. The British put him back in jail  in August 1942, and they released him in November of that same year. Ch. Charan Singh served as the fifth Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1970, and then between July 28, 1979, and January 14, 1980, he served as the fifth Prime Minister of India.

Despite spending the majority of his life as a Congressman, he later started the Lokdal political party in 1980. He is often remembered as the "Champion of India's peasants" by historians and the general public for his immense contributions for the development of farmers. Notably, the Bharat Ratna for Ch. Charan Singh comes at a time when the rumours of seat sharing between BJP and Rashtriya Lok Dal are common. Giving more air to the rumours, Jayant Singh, the RLD leader, tweeted, “Dil Jeet Liya”minutes after PM Modi's post on X.