Demand for Bharat Ratna for SPB gains momentum, Jagan writes to Modi

Hyderabad: Even as the legendary singer S.P Balasubrahmanyam is being laid to rest on Saturday at his farmhouse in Tamaraipakkam in Tamil Nadu, fans have taken to social media and are using the hashtag #BharatRatnaForSPB, requesting the Union government to bestow the late singer with a posthumous Bharat Ratna.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 September asking him to confer the Bharat Ratna to SPB.

“Our state Andhra Pradesh is fortunate for being the birthplace (Nellore) of the great music maestro, Sri S.P Balasubrahmanyam, who left for his heavenly abode on 25 September. His untimely departure not only caused much distress to fans and celebrities living in India but also affected the international music fraternity,” said Y.S Jagan Mohan reddy

He also added that the late singer's staggering achievement goes beyond music and his unparalleled talent has raised compositions to sublime levels.

“Earlier, music stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Bhupen Hazarika, M.S Subbulakshmi, Bismillah Khan, and Bhimsen Joshi were conferred the Bharat Ratna award by the government of India. As a tribute to the legendary singer for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and art, I request you to confer Bharat Ratna award upon him. This will be his highest recognition of his remarkable work which lasted five decades and stays in our memory forever,” wrote Jagan.

The late singer who died on Friday at the age of 74 sang more than 40,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. He had won six National Film Awards for best male playback singer, 25 Andhra Pradesh Nandi Awards for his work in Telugu cinema, and numerous other awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

In addition, he was honoured with the Silver Peacock Medal as Indian Film Personality of the year. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhusan (2011) from the government of India.