Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had refused the Padma Bhusan. His statement was that he knew nothing about the award, and that no one had told him anything about it.
However, as per sources, it has now been revealed that the Ministry of Home Affair has contacted Buddhadeb’s residence, following the protocol of taking consent from the prospective awardees, and the call was duly answered by his wife Meera Bhattacharya and no one had showed unwillingness to accept the Padma award at that time
But now Buddhadeb’s family has claimed that while a call came but it got disconnected after the caller said that Buddhadeb would be conferred with the Padma Bhushan and as they got the call on the landline, they had no way to call back.
While the CPM leaders felt Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had done right by refusing the award as it is party’s policy not to accept State awards, Congress used the event to target their own senior leader.
Singing legend Sandhya Mukherjee, also known as Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, also refused an offer of a Padma Shri award.
Mukherjee’s daughter Soumi Sengupta said that her mother had told the senior official who called from Delhi that she was not willing to be named as a Padma Shri recipient.
“At the age of 90, with a singing career spanning over about eight decades, being chosen for Padma Shri is demeaning for a singer of her stature,” Sengupta said.
