It was nothing short of humiliation for the Telugu states, particularly Telangana, in the announcement of this year’s prestigious Padma awards by the Centre on Thursday.
While there was not a single name from Telangana in the list of Padma awardees, Andhra Pradesh managed to find just one name from the state – that of Kidambi Srikath, badminton player who won several laurels to the country last year.
In fact, even the name of Srikanth is learnt to have been recommended by Badminton Federation of India, but since he is from AP, his name was listed as belonging to AP.
In fact, both the Telugu states reportedly sent more than 20 names to the Centre recommending various Padma awards.
Telangana government recommended Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, Padma Vibhushan for Telangana ideologue late Prof Jayashankar and economist late Ch Hanumantha Rao and Padma Shri for several prominent people including Goreti Venkanna, Suddala Ashok Tena and Chukka Ramaiah. But none of them was considered by the Centre.
On the other hand, AP government also sent the names of several prominent personalities including Kuchipudi dancer Anand Shankar Jayant, litterateur Chaganti Koteshwar Rao and doctor Vishnu Swaroop Reddy for Padma awards. At the end, only Kidambi Srikanth figured in the AP list.
So, what went wrong with the Telugu states?
Sources in the Telangana government admitted that nobody had done any follow-up with the Centre and just forgot about the awards after sending the list.
From AP, too, nobody took serious lobbying for the awards. Hence, the bureaucrats at the Centre paid little attention to the Telugu states!
