Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he felt honoured to have witnessed former president Pranab Mukherjee receiving India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna at a grand ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday.
Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister thanked Mukherjee for his contribution towards making India more developed.
"Dear Pranab Mukherjee, It was an honour to witness you receiving the Bharat Ratna, a fitting recognition of everything that you have done for the nation. Thank you for leaving no stone unturned towards making India more developed," Modi tweeted.
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Yesterday, Mukherjee, who is popularly known as 'Pranab Da', expressed his gratitude to Rashtrapati Bhawan and people of the nation for bestowing the Bharat Ratna on him.
"My heartfelt gratitude to Rashtrapatiji and the people of our nation for bestowing the Bharat Ratna on me. This honour is more for the people of our country from whom I have received much more than I have been able to give," Mukherjee tweeted.
He said in another tweet, "The Bharat Ratna for me is also indeed an acknowledgement of the millions who strive every day to make Bharat - the diverse, plural, compassionate and inclusive idea that it is."
Many dignitaries in the central government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, attended the grand event where Pranab Mukherjee received the Bharat Ratna from his successor, President Ram Nath Kovind.
However, the ones who skipped the event were UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also not seen at the event.
It is learned that Rahul was invited for the function by Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, the reason as to why he skipped the ceremony is yet to be known.
Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Ahmed Patel, Bhupender Singh Hooda, Janardan Dwivedi, RPN Singh, Sushmita Dev, and Shashi Tharoor attended the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
( With inputs from ANI )