Azad, not Ghulam: Jairam Ramesh's swipe at Padma for Ghulam Nabi

Soon after former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya declined the Padma award, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday took a veiled dig at party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who was also conferred with the award.

"Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad not Ghulam," Ramesh said on Twitter after Bhattacharya declined the Padma award.

Veteran Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was part of the group of 23 which has been critical of the party leadership and has sought an organisational overhaul, has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to public affairs.

After it was announced that Bhattacharya has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest award, the veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said he was rejecting it.

"I know nothing about this award. No one has told me anything about it. If they have decided to offer Padma Bhushan to me, I refuse to accept it," he said in a statement.

Official sources said the Union Home Ministry informed the wife of ailing Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee about the government's decision to give him Padma Bhushan before announcing his name and no one from his family objected to it.