Asaduddin Owaisi questions government for conferring Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has kicked up a row by questioning the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awards being given to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP patriarch L K Advani.

How can the country's second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, be given to Advani who was facing criminal cases (in connection with the Babri masjid demolition), Owaisi said here at a book release function last night.

"The same L K Advani who spread destruction in the country with his 'Rathyatra'. This could probably be the first instance of Padma Vibhushan being given to a person who is facing criminal cases," the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen leader said.

As to Vajpayee, Owaisi alleged that the BJP stalwart had made some controversial comments on the Ayodhya issue, the videos of which were available on the YouTube.

"Have we forgotten December 5 (1992)? The same Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had said 'we are going to level the ground' (has been now given the Bharat Ratna)," he claimed.