Singer Sonu Nigam, actor Victor Banerjee, Marathi singer Sulochana Chavan, singer Madhuri Barthwal, musician Ballesh Bhajantri and filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi won awards at the Padma awards ceremony.
CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said Bhattacharjee's decision was in line with the party's stand to not accept any such state-instituted award and nothing else should be read into it.
Congress leader Karan Singh's comments come amid a controversy triggered soon, after the announcement of the Padma awards on Tuesday.
Devendra Jhajharia, who won a gold each at the 2004 and 2016 Paralympics and a silver at Tokyo in 2020, is the first para-athlete to be felicitated with the Padma Bhushan award.
Faisal Ali Dar got the Padma Shri in 2022. The government has recognised the Bruce Lee fan's endeavour to spread sports in Jammu and Kashmir.
