Late Politician Ram Vilas Paswan Receives Padma Bhushan From President Kovind

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central Government, on Monday, facilitated late politician Ram Vilas Paswan with Padma Bhushan for public affairs.

His son Chirag Paswan received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind during the ceremony in New Delhi. The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India. 

Paswan was a former ally of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A Dalit leader from Bihar, Paswan won as many as nine Lok Sabha elections and served as a Cabinet Minister in various Ministries. 

The official handle of President Ram Nath Kovind shared the news on Twitter. "President Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Shri Ram Vilas Paswan (Posthumous) for Public Affairs. A Dalit leader from Bihar, Shri Paswan won as many as nine Lok Sabha elections and served as a Cabinet Minister in various Ministries," President's official Twitter handle tweeted.

President Kovind presented a total of 119 Padma awards and the list consists of seven Padma Vibhushan awards, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri awards. 

A total of 29 awardees are women, 16 are posthumous awardees, and one of the recipients is a transgender awardee.

"Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Modi, Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah," as per the official statement. 

The Central Government awarded Shinzo Abe, Late BJP politician Sushma Swaraj with the Padma Vibhushan award in public affairs, Belle Monappa Hegde in medicine, Narender Singh Kapany in science and engineering, S Balasubramanium in art, B.B Lal in archaeology, Sudarshan Sahoo in art, and Maulana Wahiuddin Khan in the field of spirituality. Air Marshal Dr Padma Bandopadhyay received the Padma Shri award in the field of medicine.

Bollywood filmmaker and producer Karan Johar, singer Adnan Sami, producer Ekta Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut received the Padma Shri for their contribution in the field of performing arts.