New Delhi: Days after honouring former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with the Bharat Ratna, the government is reportedly mulling to confer the Padma awards to yoga exponent Baba Ramdev, Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani, spiritual leader Shri Shri Ravi Shankar and veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Rajinikanth.
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, script writer and lyricist Salim Khan also figure in the list of probable candidates for the year’s Padma awards.
The awards this year, to be conferred on Republic Day, have several names seen as sympathetic to the ruling party including lyricist and adman Prasoon Joshi, who worked on the BJP’s advertisement campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Journalists Swapan Dasgupta and Rajat Sharma and economist Bibek Debroy, a member of the newly instituted NITI Aayog are also on the list.
Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Advani are the only two politicians in the list of 148 recipients, a leading daily reported.
Padma awards, given since 1954 on Republic Day in honour of contributions in wide-ranging pursuits, have often been subject of controversy due to the arbitrary nature of the selection process which led to inevitable charges of favouritism by the government and the ruling party.
They are given in three categories – Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, in ascending order of distinction. It’s unclear which names have been picked for which awards.
This year two scientists from ISRO – S Arunan of the Mars Mission and S K Shivkumar of Chandrayaan – will also be felicitated.
Other eminent personalities from the world of art and culture include A Kanyakumari (Carnatic violinist), Girija Devi (Hindustani vocalist), L Subramaniam (musician), Malini Awasthi (folk singer), Smriti Biswas (actor), Sudha Raghunathan (Carnatic vocalist), music directors Anu Malik and Ravindra Jain and Assamese film director Jahnu Barua.