Days after Puneet Rajkumar's death, the Karnataka unit of Congress has demanded a Padma Shri award for the late actor who died on October 29. According to a report, the party has demanded that the Union government confer Padma Shri upon Puneeth Rajkumar for his service to the cinema industry.
Puneeth was one of the leading actors in the Kannada film industry.
Siddaramaiah said, "We demand that the Union government confer upon him at least a Padma Shri award."
While Congress demanded the Padma award for Puneeth, his fans have demanded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award for the late actor. The actor passed away just before the Kannada Rajyotsava where 66 people were awarded for their services in various fields.
The government said that they couldn't give the award as the law doesn't permit them. Karnataka minister Sunil Kumar said: "Many are saying Puneet Rajkumar should get the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award. But as per law and court directions, we can't give away the Rajyotsava Award posthumously. We shall soon take a decision on how to respect Puneeth’s work."
The Kannada superstar was laid to rest with full state honours on Sunday morning at the Kanteerava studio here, next to his parents.
The final journey of the actor's mortal remains began at about 5:30 AM from Kanteerava Stadium, where it was kept since Friday evening for thousands of fans and well-wishers to pay their last respects, to Kanteerava studio, the final resting place, covering a distance of about 13 km. The mortal remains reached the studio at about 6:30 AM.
Puneeth was laid to rest in the early morning hours, much ahead of the schedule of 10 am.
Yesterday, senior actor from Tamil film industry Prabhu Ganeshan and popular star Shivakarthikeyan paid a visit to Rajkumar's residence on Monday and offered their condolences to the untimely death of the actor.
