New Delhi: The Padma awards announced Sunday by the Centre appear to be a calculated effort to reach across political lines and appeal to voters in poll-bound Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Assam.
The Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour, was awarded posthumously to the late Communist Party of India (Marxist) founder-member and former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, while the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest, went posthumously to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) founder Shibu Soren.
The awards underscore a pattern that has come to define the Modi government: honouring figures across political and regional lines to convey a sense of rising above partisan divides, while simultaneously ensuring recognition for those aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ecosystem.
Incidentally, in 2022, the Modi government named former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as the recipient of the Padma Bhushan. However, the Left stalwart, who was then alive, had refused to accept the award.
In the 1990s, too, Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), leader and the first chief minister of Kerala, EMS Namboodiripad, had rejected the Congress-led PV Narasimha Rao government’s offer of the Padma Vibhushan. In 2022, former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated that it was the party’s policy not to accept state awards.
“Com. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who was nominated for the Padma Bhushan award has declined to accept it. The CPI(M) policy has been consistent in declining such awards from the State. Our work is for the people not for awards. Com EMS who was earlier offered an award had declined it,” the CPI(M) had said in a statement then.
Com. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who was nominated for the Padma Bhushan award has declined to accept it. The CPI(M) policy has been consistent in declining such awards from the State. Our work is for the people not for awards. Com EMS who was earlier offered an award had declined it. pic.twitter.com/fTmkkzeABl
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) January 25, 2022
On Sunday, however, a statement initially issued by the CPI(M) Kerala’s official handle on social media platform X marked a shift in the party’s stance.
“Comrade V. S. Achuthanandan, honoured posthumously with the Padma Vibhushan. A lifetime of struggle, integrity, and service to the working class will be forever remembered,” it said. The post was later deleted.
In Kerala, the family of Achuthanandan, popularly known as VS who passed away in 2025 at the age of 101, accepted the award. “The honour given to my father is very valuable, and we are happy to accept it,” his son VA Arun Kumar told reporters.
As many as three of the five 2026 Padma Vibhushan awards went to public figures in Kerala. Apart from Achuthanandan, who served as Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011, former Supreme Court judge KT Thomas and RSS ideologue P Narayanan were also conferred the Padma Vibhushan.
Other awardees from the state include Vellappally Natesan, the general secretary of SNDP Yogam (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam), a major socio-religious organisation representing the Ezhava community, and actor Mammootty. Both were awarded the Padma Bhushan.
The BJP has been making efforts to increase its support among Kerala’s Ezhava community, which has historically supported the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Both Achuthanandan and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan are from this community.
Election surveys conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Kerala between 2006 and 2019 show a consistent growth in the BJP’s Nair and Ezhava support base over the past decade.
The Padma Bhushan to Shibu Soren, the former Jharkhand chief minister, also drew attention, as his son and the current CM, Hemant Soren, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, a central agency, in 2024 in a case of alleged corruption. The JMM had termed it an act of political vendetta by the Modi government.
Following the announcement of the Padma Bhushan for Shibu Soren, who played a pivotal role in the creation of Jharkhand from Bihar in 2000, the JMM reiterated its demand for the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, for him.
Indeed, the highest civilian award has also been used by the BJP to score political points. In 2019, former President Pranab Mukherjee received the award, while in 2024, it went to former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, alongside socialist icons Karpoori Thakur and Chaudhary Charan Singh.
In all, as many as 13 Padma awards, the single largest haul among all states, went to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu was followed by West Bengal, whose leading figures received 11 awards, including a Padma Shri for popular actor Prosenjit Chatterjee. Eight went to Kerala, five to Assam, and one to Puducherry, which is also headed to polls.
(Edited by Tony Rai)