Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for honouring Late Chief of Defence General Bipin Rawat and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh with Padma Vibhushan.
Taking to Twitter, the BJP chief said that India will never forget General Rawat's service.
"As India's first CDS, General Rawat has done exceptional work on various aspects related to our armed forces including defence reforms. India will never forget his service. On behalf of the country, I thank Modiji for honouring him with Padma Vibhushan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
Nadda further said that Kalyan Singh's whole life was devoted to the cause of the country.
"Kalyan Singh ji gave voice to crores of people belonging to the deprived sections of the society. He made many efforts towards the empowerment of society. His whole life was devoted to the cause of the country. Honouring him with Padma Vibhushan by Prime Minister Modi is a true tribute to his colossal personality," he added.
India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh were posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan in the civilian honours announced by the government on the eve of 73rd Republic Day.
The list of 128 Padma awardees includes Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella and co-founder Suchitra Ella, Serum Institute of India Managing Director Cyrus Poonawalla and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, singer Sonu Nigam, late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Padma Awards are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
The awards are given in various disciplines, fields of activities including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.
'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. The awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March and April every year.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor