Late Communist stalwart and former Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan, RSS ideologue and co-founder of Janmabhumi newspaper P Narayanan and retired Supreme Court judge KT Thomas were bestowed with Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian award, while three-time National Award winning actor Mammootty and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan were connferred with Padma Bhushan on Sunday on the eve of the Republic Day celebrations.
Among Padma Shri awardees from Kerala were Kollakkal Devaki Amma G (92), a woman who has spent the last four decades of her life planting trees and creating forests. She is known for developing a five acre artificial forest named Tapovan.
Mammootty, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 1998 and who has entertained audiences in several languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, expressed happiness at the national honour. “It was unexpected. I am happy. When the country honours me, there can be no other greater honour,” he told local media.
VA Arun Kumar, the son of late CM VS Achuthanandan, termed the national honour “extremely valuable”. “The family greets the honour heartily. The grief of my father’s death hasn’t lifted fully. The love and emotions being shown by people from all over the state is overwhelming. I am happy with the posthumous honour,” he said.
The CPI(M) has not yet reacted to the Padma Vibhushan honour for Achuthanandan. In 2022, former West Bengal CM and CPI(M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had turned down the Padma Bhushan award, stating that no one had informed him about the same.
Achuthanandan, the last of the living 34 leaders who walked out of the CPI executive body and formed the CPI(M) in 1964, passed away in July 2025, succumbing to age-related illnesses. He served as the chief minister between 2006 and 2011.
KT Thomas, born in Kottayam district of pre-independent India in 1937, enrolled as a lawyer in 1960 and was selected as a district judge in Kottayam in 1977.
In 1985, he was nominated as a judge of the Kerala high court and served as the acting chief justice in 1995. The next year, he was picked as one of the judges on the Supreme Court bench.
Justice Thomas presided over the Supreme Court bench that confirmed the death sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He was the chairman of the Police Reforms Monitoring Committee constituted by the top court.
89-year-old Vellappally Natesan has been the longtime chief of the SNDP, an outfit that espouses the cause of the Hindu OBC Ezhava community in Kerala and follows the teachings of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. Natesan’s son Tushar Vellappally heads Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), an ally of the BJP in the state.
Natesan, a businessman who eventually climbed the organisational ladder of the SNDP and became its longest ever serving general secretary, has sparked controversy in recent days for his alleged “communal” remarks about the Muslim community in Malappuram and in particular, the IUML party. While the Congress has vociferously opposed his remarks, the BJP declined to criticise him.
P Narayanan, the author of 10 books and translation of 100 works, has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan honour for contribution to the field of art and literature.
He served as a long-time member of the national executive committee of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and has written extensively for Janmabhumi, the Malayalam mouthpiece of the RSS, and Organiser, its national English mouthpiece.