Bharat Ratna
The award was instituted only in 1954, 6 years after Mahatma Gandhi died. Originally it excluded people who had died (only later was an amendment made and some awards given posthumously).
The only reason that I can think of Mahatma Gandhi NOT receiving the award is that there is no political gain in it for anyone. That is probably the reason why no one with clout has campaigned for him. This is not some sort of conspiracy theory - have a look at some of the awardees and the timing of the awards and you will know what I mean.
Being a Gandhi fan, I am actually very happy that he did not get one. He is too great and the award too small and too politicized.
Nobel
Mahatma Gandhi was actually nominated a number of times - 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948.
In 1948 he was considered a sure winner. However, he was assassinated a few days before the deadline and as per the norms the prize could not be given to some person who was dead.
Gandhi remains the single biggest regret of the Nobel Foundation. In 1948, the committee, unable to award Gandhi, decided to make no award since 'there was no suitable living candidate'. Interestingly, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama was awarded the prize, it was considered as a homage to Gandhi.
In the previous years the main reasons why he could not get the award was that those who proposed his name were not strong enough and
the committee always found him lacking in some desirable qualities and impact.
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