Officials were quick to clarify that Satish had expressed her desire for the award earlier. The Chief Minister holds special powers to nominate an awardee even after the selection committee formed under the Culture Department Secretary had finalised the list, said officials.
Sources said that the original list this time had more than 50 names that was extended to over 60, with as many as six added on Wednesday. In March, the awards for 2015-16 were given to 50 nominees, taking to 187 the total number of awardees since 1994 — the awards were discontinued during the BSP and BJP regimes in between.
The Chief Minister, meanwhile, took the opportunity to score a few political points, too. He referred to his father at least five times in his speech. “Netaji ka dhanyawad (Thanks to Netaji)” for instituting the awards, he said.
”Bahut sari aisi cheezen di jo Samajwadiyon se socha bhi nahi ja sakta tha (We have given so many things that no one had expected from Samajwadis),” he said.
The biggest name on the list was actor Naseeruddin Shah, who failed to make it for the event. But there were other names that raised a few eyebrows.
Among them was 29-year-old Marinder Kumar Mishra, who completed a course in journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in 2009 and has authored books on socialism, including one on Akhilesh titled “Samajwadi Model ke Yuva Dwajwahak: Akhilesh”.
Mishra is also the son of Murlidhar Mishra, an SP leader from Sidharthanagar. ”I will open a Samajwadi research centre in Lucknow with the prize money,” said Mishra, adding that he had been associated with SP leaders such as Brijbhushan Tiwari, Mata Prasad Pandey and Rajendra Chaudhary.
