Ironic when nation recognises Azad’s services, Congress doesn’t: Sibal

The Congress seems divided on the Padma Bhushan award conferred on its leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, party leader Kapil Sibal has come out in open support of Azad after cryptic tweets by Jairam Ramesh.

Sibal tweeted, “Ghulam Nabi Azad conferred Padam Bhushan, Congratulations bhaijan, Ironic that the Congress doesn’t need his services when the nation recognises his contributions to public life”.

After the announcement of Padma awards, Jairam Ramesh taking a cue from the rejection by West bengal former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya took a jibe at his party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Ramesh tweeted on Bhattacharya’s refusal to accept the award: “Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad not Ghulam.”

The comment was indirectly aimed at his party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was conferred the Padma Bhushan in the field of Public Affairs.

Azad is also a former Union minister and till recently, he was the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Azad was one of the first in the Congress to stoke the leadership issue in the party.

Former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, on Tuesday refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award conferred upon him by the government of India.

Bhattacharya was given the award for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs.

A statement issued by the veteran CPI-M leader read: “I don’t know anything about the Padma Bhushan award, nobody told me about it. If I were awarded the Padma Bhushan, I would reject it.

The Congress division with reagrds to Azad’s award is witness to the internal rift within the party as Azad was one of the leaders who had raised the leadership issue in the party and had demanded organizational elections.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor