3 min readNew DelhiJan 26, 2024 10:48 AM IST
First published on: Jan 26, 2024 at 04:10 AM IST
FORMER Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, sanitation pioneer and Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak (posthumous), Telugu actor-turned-Congress politician Chiranjeevi, yesteryear Bollywood actress Vyjayantimala Bali and Bharat Natyam exponent Padma Subrahmanyam have been selected for the Padma Vibhushan this year.
The government on Thursday also announced 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri recipients.
Among the Padma Bhushan awardees are M Fathima Beevi (posthumous), who was the first woman Supreme Court Judge, former Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup, industrialist Sitaram Jindal, Foxconn CEO Young Liu, former BJP Union Ministers Ram Naik, Satyabrata Mookherjee (posthumous) and C P Thakur, veteran BJP leader from Kerala Olanchery Rajagopal, Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth of the DMDK (posthumous), and Mumbai Samachar publisher Hormusji N Cama.
Earlier this week, the government had announced the Bharat Ratna award for former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur (posthumous).
This year, four of the five Padma Vibhushan awardees are from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu — two states where the BJP is looking to expand its base.
The award to Chiranjeevi, who received the Padma Bhushan in 2006 under the UPA government, is significant. The actor, who floated the Praja Rajyam Party only to merge it with the Congress, has stayed away from active politics for at least five years now. His brother, Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena Party, has been in talks with the BJP.
Naidu has been a veteran leader of the BJP and served as a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi government before being chosen for the Vice President’s post.
Vyjayantimala Bali, the veteran actress of films like Devdas and Madhumati, was elected MP twice from Chennai in the 1980s on a Congress ticket. She was also nominated to Rajya Sabha by the party later. In 1999, she resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP.
The multiple award-winning Bharat Natyam dancer, Padma Subrahmanyam, is also a research scholar, choreographer, teacher, Indologist and author. She is known to have evolved and popularised the dance form Bharata Nrithyam. She received the Padma Shri in 1981 and Padma Bhushan in 2003.
Pathak, founder of Sulabh International, a social service organisation promoting human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education, died last year. He was the recipient of multiple national and international awards for his social work in the field of sanitation. Hailing from Bihar, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1991.
Former V-P Venkaiah Naidu; actor-politician Chiranjeevi 
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