Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday said he was not aware that he had been named for the Padma Bhushan and he would reject it if it were so, in a rare instance of a recipient turning down one of India's top civilian honours, reports ndtv.com.

"I don't know anything about a Padma Bhushan award. No one told me anything about it. If they have given me a Padma Bhushan award. I am rejecting it," he said in a brief statement in Bengali posted on the social media pages of his party CPM's Bengal social media pages.

The Home Ministry earlier said the Union Home Secretary "had spoken with Bhattacharjee's wife this morning. She had accepted the award and thanked,"