Kolkata:  West Bengal former Chief Minister, CPI (M) veteran leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharya refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award conferred to him on the eve of the 73^rd Republic Day of India. Indian Government conferred this award for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in a statement on Tuesday said that I don’t know anything about the Padma Bhushan award, nobody told me about it. If I were awarded the Padma Bhushan, I would reject it. CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri confirmed the statement few minutes later.
He is suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), hardly gets out of his house for the past few years now. Even during last year’s Assembly polls in Bengal, the veteran leader did not campaign for his party. He was hospitalized twice in the last six months.
CPI (M party official sources party does not believe in such awards and hence the CPI (M) as well as Bhattacharya has decided to refuse it.