Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s sister Gita Mehta who was been conferred with the Padma Shri award in the field of literature and education, on Saturday refused to accept the Padmi Shri, which the Centre announced on the eve of Republic Day.
The Padma awards were announced on the eve of the Republic Day on Friday
In a press statement issued from New York, Mehta said, “I am deeply honoured that the Government of India should think me worthy of a Padma Shri but with great regret I feel I must decline as there is a general election looming and the timing of the award might be misconstrued, causing embarrassment both to the Government and myself, which I would much regret.
Notably Election is due in few months, murmurs were already began in Political circles about Centre’s BJP Government is trying to woo BJD’s support in case there was a Hung Assembly,this was seen as attempt to win BJD’s support by conferring award to Pattnaik’s Sister
