New Delhi: Former West Bengal chief minister and veteran CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday rejected the Padma Bhushan award.
Bhattacharya was announced as one of the recipients of the Padma Bhushan honour on Tuesday, the eve of Republic Day.
The award to the “veteran political leader and former Chief Minister of West Bengal” was given to him for his contribution to “public affairs”.
“I know nothing about this award. No one has told me anything about it. If they have decided to offer Padma Bhushan to me, I refuse to accept it,” he said in a statement.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Hindutva poster boy late Kalyan Singh and India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat who died in a helicopter crash recently, were awarded Padma Vibhushan on Tuesday, while veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were conferred with Padma Bhushan.