VS Achuthanandan would’ve declined Padma Vibhushan if alive: CPI(M) chief MA Baby

New Delhi:  A day after its Kerala unit welcomed the Padma Vibhushan for late VS Achuthanandan, CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby on Tuesday said the communist veteran would not have accepted the award if he was alive but left it to the family to decide whether to accept it or not.

The choice of the late leader by the Modi government had put the CPI(M) in a bind, as previously party leaders like EMS Namboodiripadu, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had declined when chosen for national honours.

The family has welcomed the honour though Achuthanandan's son Arun Kumar has said that a decision on accepting Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, will be taken after a discussion with CPI(M) leadership. CPI(M) Kerala Secretary MV Govindan said the family has welcomed the decision with joy and the party is also accepting it, as there is "no need for us to take a different stand".

However, Baby told reporters here, "the issue now is that VS is no more. What would have VS done if he was alive?...He would have said thank you for choosing but he is unable to accept it. Now, it is for the family to say (whether to accept or not). The family has said they are happy. Govindan has also expressed happiness."

"The issue of accepting it or not is a different issue. That is for the family to discuss and decide," he said.

The CPI(M) traditionally declines state awards. EMS was chosen for Padma Vibhushan award along with BJP's AB Vajpayee in 1992 by the then Congress government led by PV Narasimha Rao. While Vajpayee received the award, the Marxist veteran declined it.

In 2008, a suggestion was made by then Minister and Congress leader M Veerappa Moily and others that Basu be conferred Bharat Ratna. Basu was considered for a Padma award in the late 1990s.

The demand for Bharat Ratna for Basu came after BJP veteran LK Advani wrote to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking Bharat Ratna for former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee. That time too, the party and Basu made it clear that they were not in favour of such an idea.

Bhattacharya, who was then ailing, was named among the Padma Vibhushan in 2022 with his family claiming that his consent was not sought. After his name was announced, the family and the party declined it with then party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury citing the party policy.

"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) said in a statement on 25 January, 2022.

Bhattacharya separately said, "I don't know anything about Padma Bhushan Award, nobody told me anything about this. If I have been awarded Padma Bhushan then I am rejecting it."

While Bhattacharya declined the award, the decision of Ghulam Nabi Azad, then a Congress leader who had risen in rebellion against party leadership, to accept the award triggered unease in the Congress, which expected him to decline it. However, he did not do so and later left the party.