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Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declines Padma Bhushan award after MHA announcement
Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s statement was circulated by his party. No CPI(M) leader has accepted civilian awards from the Centre in the past.
KOLKATA: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday declined to accept the Padma Bhushan award shortly after the Union ministry of home affairs released the list of the Padma awardees for 2022.
Bhattacharjee, 77, and veteran actor Victor Banerjee were among the 17 people named for the Padma Bhushan from West Bengal. To be sure, a third Padma Bhushan recipient, Ustad Rashid Khan, lives in Bengal but in the home ministry list, is classified under Uttar Pradesh where he was born.
“I do not know anything about the Padma Bhushan award. Nobody said anything to me about this. If I have been given the award, then I refuse it,” Bhattacharjee said in a short statement circulated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M).
Bhattacharjee was the chief minister from 2000 to 2011. The former chief minister has been unwell for some time and never leaves home. He was treated for Covid-19 last year.
A senior home ministry official said a phone call was made to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s house on Tuesday morning, which was picked by his wife and she was informed about his Padma award. There is no provision of taking consent for giving Padma awards to anyone; the awardees are only informed after the decision has been made, the official said.
To be sure, Bhattacharjee’s predecessor, Jyoti Basu, also refused the Bharat Ratna award when the Manmohan Singh government reportedly proposed to confer the award on the communist leader.
No CPI(M) leader has accepted civilian awards from the Centre in the past. Bengal CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said in a statement that this has always been the party’s stand.
Tabla maestro Anindya Chatterjee and veteran playback singer Sandhya Mukherjee have said they were informed about a decision to confer the Padma Shri award on them but they declined. While Chatterjee said he was being awarded by people who know nothing about him or his career, Mukherjee said accepting the award at the age of 90 would be demeaning.
