CPM welcomes Padma Vibhushan awarded to VS; says past rejections were ‘personal’

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM has welcomed the Padma Vibhushan conferred on VS Achuthanandan. Party state secretary MV Govindan said that earlier instances of CPM leaders rejecting Padma awards were part of their personal positions.

Speaking to Mathrubhumi News, Govindan said: “Earlier, party leaders rejected the awards based on their individual stands. VS family has expressed happiness. All of us are happy. The party also welcomes it.”

Former chief ministers and Communist leaders EMS Namboodiripad and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had earlier rejected Padma awards. VS has now received the same honour posthumously. Political Kerala had been keenly watching to see what stand the party would take on the award, and it is in this context that MV Govindan clarified the party’s position.

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EMS was considered for the Padma Vibhushan in 1992, when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister under a Congress-led government. EMS declined the award, citing his inability to agree with the Rao government’s policies. Along with EMS, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also announced as a Padma Bhushan awardee that year, which Vajpayee accepted.

In 2022, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was selected for the Padma Bhushan. “If they have decided to give me something like that, I reject it,” was Buddhadeb’s response. Then CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury made the party’s stand clear by tweeting Buddhadeb’s words. The award was announced after Buddhadeb had stepped down from the CPM Polit Bureau.