Vote Politics? Poll-bound states get 40 percent of Padma Awards

Vote Politics? Poll-bound states get 40 percent of Padma Awards

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ January 27,2026

This year’s Padma Awards may play a key role in shaping voter sentiment in the upcoming Assembly elections. Several Indian states are scheduled for Assembly elections in 2026 and 2027. Major states heading to the polls in 2026–2027 include Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, while early 2027 will see critical elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa.

By recognising prominent figures from poll-bound and non-BJP-ruled states, the Centre appears to be using national honours as a soft political outreach tool. Such symbolic recognition can help the ruling party build goodwill among influential communities and regional constituencies ahead of crucial electoral battles.

For the year 2026, the President has approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards, comprising 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri awards.

It appears that the government has kept poll-bound states in mind while conferring the Padma Awards, as for the ruling party at the Centre—the BJP—Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and West Bengal are key states since they are currently non-BJP-ruled.

To attract voters in these non-BJP-ruled states, the saffron party-led Central government seems to have played the ‘Padma Award’ card. The government has given 40 percent of the awards to these states. Tamil Nadu gets total 14, West Bengal gets 11, UP gets 9,Kerala gets 8,  Assam gets 5, Punjab 3, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Puducherry get 1 each.

Out of 5 Padma Vibhushan awards, 3 have been given to Kerala, 1 to Uttar Pradesh, and 1 to Maharashtra.

Similarly, out of 13 Padma Bhushan awards, Tamil Nadu gets 3 (including Vijay Amritraj, USA), Kerala gets 2, and Uttarakhand gets 1.

In the same way, out of 113 Padma Shri awards, West Bengal gets 11, Tamil Nadu also gets 11, Uttar Pradesh gets 8, Assam gets 5, Punjab gets 3, and Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Puducherry get 1 each.

In Punjab, the BJP has played a Padma Award card by awarding the Padma Shri to Dera Ballan head Sant Niranjan Das for his spiritual and social contributions, particularly for the upliftment of society and the Dalit community.

The establishment of Shri Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan Mandir at Seer Govardhanpur, Varanasi, under Sant Sarwan Dass transformed the Dera into a pan-Indian religious force.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Dera Ballan in Jalandhar to attend the Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 1 this year.

Earlier, Sant Niranjan Dass had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and invited him to attend the Guru Ravidas Jayanti scheduled on February 1 in Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi.

Dalits constitute approximately 32 percent of the state’s total population, making it the highest proportion of Scheduled Castes (SCs) among all Indian states. This influential voting bloc is heavily concentrated in the Doaba region, which accounts for about 42 percent of the population.