Former chief minister and Marxist veteran Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and versatile actor Victor Banerjee were among six persons from West Bengal who got this year's Padma awards announced by the Indian government.

Victor and Buddhadeb are among the 17 winners of Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.

While the actor has been honoured in the Art category, Buddhadeb has been awarded for his contribution to public affairs.

However, the ailing Buddhadeb, 77, refused to accept the award, sparking a row.

Public refusal of Padma awards after the announcement is extremely rare. Under the protocol, the awardees are mandatorily informed about the award in advance and the list is announced only after they accept.

Home ministry sources said when the Indian home secretary had called up Buddhadeb's house in Palm Avenue in south Kolkata a few hours before the awards were made public, the former chief minister's wife took the phone call and said she would convey the news to her husband.

None in the Bhattacharjee family got back to convey its stand on the award.

Victor has captivated generations of movie lovers with his acting particularly in films directed by Satyajit Ray's "Ghare Baire", "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" and "Pikoo", Mrinal Sen's "Mahaprithivi", Shyam Benegal's "Kalyyug", David Lean's "A Passage to India" and Roman Polanski's "Bitter Moon".

Among others from West Bengal chosen for Padma Shri awards are businessman Prahlad Rai Agarwala, Sanghamitra Bandopadhyay in Science and Technology category, Kali Pada Saren in Art and Literature section and Kajee Singh in Art category. Sanghamitra is the Director of Indian Statistical Institute in Barrackpore.

Legendary singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and tabla player Anindya Chatterjee were also told through phone by the Indian government that they would be chosen for Padma Shri.

Sandhya Mukhopadhyay's daughter Soumi Sengupta told the media that a home ministry official had contacted her mother before the awards were announced and she declined the offer of Padma Shri.

The singer's family sources said Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was miffed at being awarded the Padma Shri at the age of 90.

Anindyo Chatterjee also appeared upset by the Padma Shri offer and declined it on the morning of last Tuesday.

The tabla player later told the media that her contemporaries and juniors got Padma Shri long ago and he could not stand the "humiliation" of being chosen for the same honour now.

As a result, the names of Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and Anindyo Chatterjee did not feature in the list of Padma Shri winners.