Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ustad Zakir Hussain, SM Krishna awarded Padma Vibhushan
New Delhi, Jan 25: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, former External Affairs minister in the UPA government S M Krishna and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain were among six luminaries selected for the country's second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan.
According to an official statement released on the eve of Republic Day, Yadav, medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis who returned from the US to serve in 1971-Bangladesh war refugee camps, and noted architect Balkrishna Doshi were selected for the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
No one has been named for the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to those who have been conferred the Padma Awards.
"India cherishes their rich and varied contributions to the nation and their efforts to enhance our growth trajectory," he said.
US based mathematician Srinivas Varadhan was also selected for the Padma Vibhushan award.
Noted industrialist Kumara Mangalam Birla, novelist S L Bhyrappa and author Sudha Murthy were among nine people awarded Padma Bhushan, the statement said.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (posthumous), actor Raveena Tandon, Manipur BJP president Thounaojam Chaoba Singh were among 91 luminaries awarded the Padma Shri award.
These Awards are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions which are held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.
For 2023, the President has approved conferment of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).
Nineteen of the awardees are women and the list also includes two people from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and seven posthumous awardees.
Padma awards, one of the highest civilian awards of the country, are conferred in
three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities - art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
'Padma Vibhushan' is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, 'Padma Bhushan' for distinguished service of high order and 'Padma Shri' for distinguished
service in any field.
The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
Here is the list of Padma awardees:
Padma Vibhushan
Balkrishna Doshi (Posthumous)
Zakir Hussain
S M Krishna
Dilip Mahalanabis (Posthumous)
Srinivas Varadhan
Mulayam Singh Yadav (Posthumous)
Padma Bhushan
S L Bhyrappa
Kumar Mangalam Birla
Deepak Dhar
Vani Jairam
Swami Chinna Jeeyar
Suman Kalyanpur
Kapil Kapoor
Sudha Murty
Kamlesh D Patel
Padma Shri
Dr. Sukama Acharya
Jodhaiyabai Baiga
Premjit Baria
Usha Barle
Munishwar Chanddawar
Hemant Chauhan
Bhanubhai Chitara
Hemoprova Chutia
Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Posthumous)
Subhadra Devi
Khadar Valli Dudekula
Hem Chandra Goswami
Pritikana Goswami
Radha Charan Gupta
Modadugu Vijay Gupta
Ahmed Hussain & Shri Mohd Hussain *(Duo)
Dilshad Hussain
Bhiku Ramji Idate
C I Issac
Rattan Singh Jaggi
Bikram Bahadur Jamatia
Ramkuiwangbe Jene
Rakesh Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala (Posthumous)
Ratan Chandra Kar
Mahipat Kavi
M M Keeravaani
Areez Khambatta (Posthumous)
Parshuram Komaji Khune
Ganesh Nagappa Krishnarajanagara
Maguni Charan Kuanr
Anand Kumar
Arvind Kumar
Domar Singh Kunvar
Risingbor Kurkalang
Hirabai Lobi
Moolchand Lodha
Rani Machaiah
Ajay Kumar Mandavi
Prabhakar Bhanudas Mande
Gajanan Jagannath Mane
Antaryami Mishra
Nadoja Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa
Prof. (Dr.) Mahendra Pal
Uma Shankar Pandey
Ramesh Parmar & Ms. Shanti Parmar *(Duo)
Dr. Nalini Parthasarathi
Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti
Ramesh Patange
Krishna Patel
K Kalyanasundaram Pillai
V P Appukuttan Poduval
Kapil Dev Prasad
S R D Prasad
Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri
C V Raju
Bakshi Ram
Cheruvayal K Raman
Sujatha Ramdorai
Abbareddy Nageswara Rao
Pareshbhai Rathwa
B Ramakrishna Reddy
Mangala Kanti Roy
K C Runremsangi
Vadivel Gopal & Shri Masi Sadaiyan *(Duo)
Manoranjan Sahu
Patayat Sahu
Ritwik Sanyal
Kota Satchidananda Sastry
Sankurathri Chandra Sekhar
K Shanathoiba Sharma
Nekram Sharma
Gurcharan Singh
Laxman Singh
Mohan Singh
Thounaojam Chaoba Singh
Prakash Chandra Sood
Neihunuo Sorhie
Dr. Janum Singh Soy
Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin
S Subbaraman
Moa Subong
Palam Kalyana Sundaram
Raveena Ravi Tandon
Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari
Dhaniram Toto
Tula Ram Upreti
Dr. Gopalsamy Veluchamy
Dr. Ishwar Chander Verma
Coomi Nariman Wadia
Karma Wangchu (Posthumous)
Ghulam Muhammad Zaz
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Kangana Ranaut sparks row: Claims Gandhi made 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' the national anthem
New Delhi: A significant political controversy has erupted following the Modi government's decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a move that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties. The row was further fueled by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who, while defending the name change, erroneously claimed that Mahatma Gandhi had made the devotional song "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram" India’s national anthem.
The central government has rebranded the flagship rural employment scheme from MGNREGA to the "Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission," abbreviated as VB-G RAM G. The removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme has been termed an insult to the Father of the Nation by the Congress and other opposition parties.
When questioned by the media outside Parliament regarding the opposition's allegations, Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut defended the government's decision by invoking Mahatma Gandhi's devotion to Lord Ram.
"How is naming it 'Ram Ji' an insult to Gandhi ji?" Ranaut asked. "Mahatma Gandhi made 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' the national anthem to organize the entire country. Therefore, this is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi? The government is fulfilling his dream by giving it the name of Ram."
Ranaut's claim regarding the national anthem was immediately seized upon by the opposition. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared the video of Ranaut’s statement on social media, tweeting sarcastically, "Come on brother, today we learned a new national anthem! The BJP is full of such gems."
Social media users also trolled the MP for the factual error. One user quipped, "Kangana ji forgot to mention that Bapu made this the national anthem after the country got independence in 2014," while another commented that the party finds people who "don't use their brains while forwarding WhatsApp messages."
Beyond the social media mockery, senior Congress leaders criticised the renaming on ideological grounds. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the move.
"The biggest irony is that Mahatma Gandhi was a lifelong devotee of Lord Ram and said 'Hey Ram' in his last moments," Gehlot wrote. "Today, the central government is making a despicable attempt to sideline Gandhi ji under the guise of the same 'Ram' name (VB-G RAM G), which is highly condemnable."
मनरेगा का नाम बदलने की केंद्र सरकार की कवायद महात्मा गांधी के प्रति उनकी ओछी मानसिकता और असम्मान का प्रमाण है। सरकार पहले 'पूज्य बापू' के नाम का शिगूफा छोड़ती है और फजीहत होने पर अब 'विकसित भारत-गारंटी फॉर रोजगार एंड आजीविका मिशन (VB-G RAM G)' जैसा नाम थोपना चाहती है। बार-बार नाम…
— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) December 15, 2025
गांधी जी ने ‘रघुपति राघव राजा राम’ को लेकर नेशनल एंथम बनाया था
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) December 16, 2025
BJP MP कंगना रनौत
चलो भाई आज नया नेशनल एंथम भी पता चला है!
BJP में एक से एक शिरोमणि भरे पड़े हैं 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/9DvyV5xLb1
