Gita Mehta has been named for the conferment of Padma Shri award for her work in the field of literature.
Writer Gita Mehta, sister of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has refused to accept the Padma Shri award, saying that the timing of the honour might be “misconstrued” in the wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The awards were announced on the eve of the Republic Day on January 25, in which Patnaik was named for the conferment of Padma Shri for her work in the field of literature.
Following the announcement, Gita issued a statement in New York stating that she was refusing the award as the timing for it was not right.
“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 (sic),” said the statement.
Months before the government conferred the award to Gita, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to her and her husband, renowned publisher Sonny Mehta. They had a 90-minute meeting, which was speculated to be BJP’s attempt to get closer to Naveen Patnaik before the elections.
The Odisha CM has also been under attack by the Opposition, particularly the Congress, whose chief Rahul Gandhi has called him a "version of Narendra Modi" in Odisha.
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In a rally on January 25, Rahul Gandhi alleged that there is a connection between Modi and Patnaik. "Mr Modi has leverage over Mr Patnaik. You know why - because of corruption cases," he said.
