Former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday (January 5) made a sensational claim saying that he was approached for Rs 1 crore bribe for a Padma award during Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) tenure in 2010. The promise of an award was hinted for Chandrasekhar's work in telecom sector. Chandrasekhar's allegation came a day after US President Joe Biden awarded Medal of Freedom to a list of dignitaries. One of them was billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
Padma Awards are high civilian honours in India with Padma Vibhushan being the highest one in this category. This award is followed by Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in descending order of prominence. These awards recognise the awardees' outstanding contribution in various fields like arts, education, industry, literature, science and more.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar made the Padma awards allegation on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). He said the alleged bribe for Padma award showed how these awards were given during the UPA regime.
Along with Soros, other dignitaries like former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, actors Michael J Fox and Denzel Washington, football legend Lionel Messi among others were honoured by conferring Medal of Freedom.
There was no immediate refutation of allegations leveled by Rajeev Chandrasekhar by member of former UPA government.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been a longtime Rajya Sabha MP (2006-2024). He was minister of state for electronics and information technology between 2021 to 2024. He was also minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship during the same period.
