Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former chief minister of West Bengal, declined to accept the Padma Bhushan award on Tuesday, immediately after the Union ministry of home affairs revealed the list of Padma winners for 2022.
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The 17 persons chosen for the Padma Bhushan from West Bengal include Bhattacharjee, 77, and legendary performer Victor Banerjee.
“I have no knowledge of the Padma Bhushan award.” Nobody told me anything about it. “I refuse the award if it has been granted to me,” Bhattacharjee stated in a statement released by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M).
From 2000 to 2011, Bhattacharjee served as chief minister. The former chief minister has been sick for a long time and rarely leaves the house. Last year, he was treated for Covid-19.
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According to a senior home ministry official, on Tuesday morning, a phone call was placed to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s house, which was answered by his wife, who was informed of his Padma award. According to the source, there is no process for obtaining agreement before awarding Padma awards to anyone; winners are only notified after the decision has been taken.
To be sure, Bhattacharjee’s predecessor, Jyoti Basu, turned down the Bharat Ratna honour when Manmohan Singh’s government purportedly offered it to the communist leader.
In the past, no CPI(M) leader has accepted civilian accolades from the Centre. Surjya Kanta Mishra, Bengal CPI(M) state secretary, said in a statement that this has always been the party’s position.
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Anindya Chatterjee, a tabla maestro, and Sandhya Mukherjee, a prominent playback vocalist, have alleged they were notified of a decision to bestow the Padma Shri award on them, but they declined. While Chatterjee claimed the prize was given to him by people who had never heard of him or his profession, Mukherjee stated accepting the medal at the age of 90 would be degrading.
