NEW DELHI: Pranab Mukherjee – a former president and a lifelong Congressman respected across party lines – has received the greatest civilian award from his successor, President Ram Nath Kovind, the Bharat Ratna, from the country. Top rulers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended this evening's award ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, who praised him as the "exceptional statesman of our times" when recipient names were announced in January.

Two others posthumously received the award — famous singer Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh, one of Bharatiya Jan Sangh's founding members, who later evolved into the BJP.