Padma Awards: Dhoni, Neerja Bhanot, Arnab Goswami rejected by govt

However, the Home Ministry has not cited any reasons for rejecting the names

The government rejected proposals to confer Padma awards to a number of prominent personalities, including cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Biju Janata Dal's MP Baijayant Panda and Neerja Bhanot, according to a report published by The Indian Express on Monday.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar and veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who were awarded the country’s second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, were not on the initial list of nomination. 

According to the list, the maximum number of nominations were received in the name of Ram Rahim, who has also produced and starred in three movies. Bhanot, who was killed during a hijack in 1986, was nominated by BJP MP from Chandigarh Kirron Kher. A biopic on the airhostess, starring Sonam Kapoor, was released last year.

The Home Ministry has not cited reasons for rejecting the names.

Among the Bollywood celebrities who didn’t make it to the final round was actor Manoj Bajpayee, whose name was recommended from Bihar; actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan and filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. 

The others who fell short also included music composer Anu Malik and Hindustani classical vocalist Pt Ajay Pohankar were recommended by BJP MP and HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. BJP MP from Mumbai, Poonam Mahajan, nominated Indian classical musician Ghulam Mustafa Waris Khan.

Among the other nominees who didn’t make it were archer Dola Banerjee from West Bengal; former Olympic champion and shooter Abhinav Bindra; badminton player Jwala Gutta; singer Sonu Nigam; actor Sridevi Kapoor; anchor and journalist Arnab Goswami; media personality Pritish Nandy; and, fashion designer Rohit Bal.

In all, 89 persons were conferred the Padma awards in January, including seven Padma Vibhushan, seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri winners. The search committee, set up to screen the nominations, comprised the Cabinet Secretary, Secretary to the President, Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, actor Waheeda Rehman, journalist and MP Dr Harivansh; political analyst S Gurumurthy; and, badminton player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand among others.