New Delhi, Dec 22 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Najma Heptullah on Monday welcomed Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement on conferring the Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"If Omar Abdullah has said this then it is a good thing. It is right, Vajpayeeji should get Bharat Ratna. He has been in politics for so long, he has been in the ruling as well as in the opposition, he was a good Prime Minister, he has been a good parliamentarian," Heptullah told ANI here.

Earlier today, Omar Abdullah had tweeted that the UPA government should have risen above politics and conferred the Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Last year, when the UPA Government had announced the Bharat Ratna for former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao, the BJP had criticised the Congress for ignoring Vajpayee's contribution to the nation. (ANI)