New Delhi: Joining the chorus for Bharat Ratna, Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan today demanded the highest civilian honour for Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Jagjivan Ram and Mohammed Rafi, saying the award should be kept above party politics.

"There should not be any politics in the matter of selecting the Bharat Ratna awardee. Such an award should be kept above party politics," he said at a press conference.

Asked to comment on BJP's demand for the award for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said, "I am not opposing anyone. But all cannot get it". He said Vajpayee was a BJP leader just as Kanshi Ram was a BSP leader, whose name is being pressed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. "They are all political personalities," he said.

Paswan, who returned after attending the Indian Citizens Committee Annual Day at Kuwait as a Chief Guest, said he would take up the immigration problems between India and Kuwait with the concerned Minister.

On the demand for having direct flights from Kuwait to Kochi, Lucknow and Patna, Paswan said he would take up the matter with the Civil Aviation Minister.

Asked to comment on reports that an RPF jawan had thrown a boy from a train in Hajipur, Paswan's Lok Sabha constituency, the LJP leader said he would be writing to the Railway Minister about the "shocking and inhuman incident".

Source : PTI