AIADMK asks Centre to confer Bharat Ratna on Jayalalithaa

A senior AIADMK leader on Thursday raised the issue of honouring former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa with the Bharat Ratna in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi, Feb 2: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday asked the government to confer India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna to former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa posthumously for her "exemplary" public service of over 32 years and also recommend her name for the Nobel Prize.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, AIADMK member Vijila Sathyananth said 10 crore people affectionately called her Amma. "Amma cannot be replaced. She is the personification of love and compassion...(she) worked endlessly till her last breath for upliftment of poor people," she said, adding that "the iron lady" had brought about all-round development in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalithaa, also called the Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) died on December 5. Claiming that Amma's "intelligence and goverance" cannot be compared with any leader in the world, she said "...the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna be conferred posthumously to our Amma to recognise her exemplary 32 years of public service.

"We urge the Centre to instal her lifesize bronze statue in Parliament complex and also recommend her name for Nobel Prize for women upliftment and child upliftment," the AIADMK member said.

PTI