Govt rejects nominations of MS Dhoni, Neerja Bhanot, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for Padma awards

The Home Ministry has dropped the names of MS Dhoni, Neerja Bhanot and Manoj Vajpayee from the nomination list of Padma awards

By: News Desk |
March 27, 2017 10:35 am

Months after the Padma awards 2017 were announced, the Home Ministry recently released a list of people who were dropped from the nomination list. Some of the top dignitaries who did not make the final cut included former captain of the Indian cricket team, MD Dhoni, late air hostess and Ashoka Chakra recipient, Neerja Bhanot and Indian Tabla player, Zakir Hussain.

These are just some of the names included in the 18,768 nominations list released by the Home Ministry. Additionally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, Sharad Pawar who was honoured with Padma Vibhushan was not present in the Padma awards nomination list. The name of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, were also not in the list of the nominations. According to reports, their names were under “public affair” category and have been honoured with the highest civilian award uder government’s discretion.

The Padma awards which are conferred by the President of India will be held in Rashtrapati Bhavan later this month. Indian spiritual leader and actor Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who have directed and acted in movies like MSG: The Messenger was also dropped from the list. BJP MP from Chandigarh and actress Kirron Kher was the person who nominated Neerja Bhanot who died saving lives of a number of passengers on a flight that was hijacked by terrorists. Neerja’s biopic starring Sonam Kapoor hit the screens last year.

Among the others who were dropped included Supreme Court judge Justice Amitava Roy, who was among the judges who convicted late Jayalalithaa and Sasikala Natarajan in the disproportionate assets case. Bollywood actor Manoj Vajpayee who was nominated by Jaya Bachchan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra was also dropped from the list.

Ahead of the 68th Republic Day, the government on January 25 released the list of Padma awardees that includes Paralympic Gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Virat Kohli, Shekar Naik (Captain of Indian Blind Cricket Team) and Sakshi Malik.

While Anu Malik failed to make the final cut, Kailash Kher will receive the Padma Shri.The Home Ministry has dropped the names of MS Dhoni, Neerja Bhanot and Manoj Vajpayee from the nomination list of Padma awards.