Taking a cue from Leader of the Opposition L K Advani's move to demand the award for former Prime Minister and BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pune-based BJP youth wing BJYM has launched an online petition addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the honour be conferred to him.

The group has also constituted an online community called ‘Give Bharat Ratna to Atalji’ on Orkut, a social networking website fast becoming popular among all age groups.

"Honourable Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a jewel in India's crown. His followers have conferred their own Bharat Ratna to him. Still, it would be doing yeoman's service to this shining light if the government gets its act together and confers this highest civilian award to him, although late in the day," says the petition that is doing the rounds on the web.

The Vajpayee fan club on the web is a 6,191-member-strong group.

"Atalji deserves this," write one Yogesh Pathak, a member of `Atalji Bihari Vajpayee Fan Club'.