Somnath, Rahman, Leander in running for Padma prize

Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman, US-based hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal and tennis captain Leander Paes are being considered for the Padma awards this year.

Somnath Chatterjee and AR Rahman are likely to be given the Padma Vibhushan and Paes the Padma Bhushan.

The list of awardees might be announced on Monday. According to sources, writer Mahasweta Devi, veteran cinematographer Nemai Ghosh and painter Shuvaprasanna are also being considered for the honours.

This is not the first time the UPA government is planning to bestow the award on Chatterjee. It wanted to do so last year itself, but Chatterjee declined saying it would not be appropriate for him to receive an award from the executive as long as he was Lok Sabha speaker.

The honour will be another feather in the cap of AR Rahman, who won two Oscars last year for best original music score and best song in Slumdog Millionaire.

The other possible Padma awardee is US-based controversial hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal. He is among the movers and shakers of the NRI community in the US and has powerful connections in the Democratic Party. He is extremely close to the Clintons. Chatwal was, in fact, one of Hillary Clinton’s primary fundraisers during her presidential bid. He also played an active role in drumming up support for the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Chatwal has powerful political connections in the country and was instrumental in persuading Bill Clinton to travel to Lucknow and attend a private lunch hosted by a UP-based industrialist considered close to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.

Leander Paes has been the country’s top tennis player for over a decade. He won the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and has won doubles titles at Wimbledon, Australian Open and the US Open. He was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1996.