India, Feb. 10 -- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday demanded the Bharat Ratna (posthumously), India's highest civilian award, for his uncle and the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Raj Thackeray wrote, "Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, and S Swaminathan, father of the Indian Green Revolution, were posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna. S Swaminathan passed away just a few months ago. A scientist who achieved so much should have received this honour during his lifetime. Anyway."

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the Bharat Ratna will be bestowed upon former prime ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao. Additionally,...