Padma Honour for Ram Vilas Paswan, son Chirag Paswan thanks PM Modi

Chirag Paswan expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday after former Union minister and his late father Ram Vilas Paswan was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan award posthumously and was one of the 10 Padma Bhushan awardees. 

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The Lok Janshakti Party president tweeted that PM Modi took care of his father till his last days and gave him respect even after he was gone.

Paswan has been a constant supporter of PM Modi despite the party no longer a part of the BJP-led NDA in Bihar due to his differences with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, another saffron party ally.

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Ram Vilas Paswan passed away last year

In October, last year, LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan passed away at a hospital in New Delhi. Chirag Paswan had made this announcement on Twitter. The veteran political leader hailing from Bihar had been hospitalized and had undergone heart surgery on October 4, 2020. After the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Paswan was the only remaining non-BJP Cabinet Minister. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha after winning the election unopposed on June 28, 2019. He had served as a Union Minister in the National Front governments (1989-90 and 1996-98), the Atal Bihar Vajpayee-led NDA government (1999-2002), the UPA government (2004-2009), and the Narendra Modi-led government (2014-2020). 

Prominent Padma awardees

In a very significant development, Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who stepped down in 2020 due to health reasons features among the 7 Padma Vibhushan awardees. Legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam and scientist Narinder Singh Kapany known as the 'father of fibre optics' will be awarded Padma Vibhushan posthmously. India's second-highest civilian award shall also be conferred to renowned sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo, cardiologist Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde, Islamic spiritual scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and archaelogist BB Lal. Lal had discovered that there is temple-like structure below the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Meanwhile, a total of 10 persons shall be bestowed with Padma Bhushan.

The prominent awardees of the country's third-highest civilian award include veteran Congress leader and former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who breathed his last in 2020 after contracting COVID-19. Similarly, ex-Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan who too passed away last year are in this list. Interestingly, late Islamic scholar Maulana Kalbe Sadiq who served as the senior vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has also been named as a recepient of Padma Bhushan. Additionally, former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, retired bureaucrat Nripendra Misra who functioned as the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi till 2019 and renowned singer KS Chithra will also receive Padma Bhushan. Meanwhile, Carnatic singer Bombay Jayashri, former Goa Governor Mridula Sinha and social activist Sindhutai Sapkal are some of the key Padma Shri awardees.

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(With PTI Inputs)