a special invitee to the Central Committee. However, he was persuaded to remain a member of the state committee and the state secretariat till 2018. He continued to appear for party campaign and programs till 2017. In 2018, due to continuing ill-health he stepped down from the state committee and the state secretariat. He was later named as a special invitee to the state committee. In 2019, he made a attempt to attend a mega-rally at Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata, however, due to breathing difficulties he could not appear on the stage and remained seated in his car. In 2022, he stepped down from all leadership roles, just retaining his primary membership of the party. However, Bhattacharjee remains a senior leader of CPI(M). The Padma Bhushan controversy In January 2022, the Central Government of India bestowed Bhattacharjee with the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India. However, he declined the award and claimed that he had not been informed about the award. He said a call was made to his residence earlier in the day, while adding there is no provision of taking consent for giving Padma awards. Later, the CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury clarified Bhattacharjee's stance in a tweet which said Former Party PB [Politburo] member & WB [West Bengal] CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya [Bhattacharjee] had this to say on the Padma Bhushan award announcement. “I don't know anything about Padman Bhusan award, none has said anything about it. If I have been given Padma Bhushan I refuse to accept it.” Personal life He is married to Meera Bhattacharjee; they have a daughter. The family has lived in a two-room apartment in Ballygunge, Kolkata. He stayed at the two-room apartment for decades and operated as Chief Minister from the same residence. During Bhattacharjee's time in the cabinet, he made efforts to enhance literary culture in Bengal. As Information and Culture minister he undertook significant projects such as building Nandan, a film complex modelled on the British Film Institute; Bangla Akademi, a book publishing organisation and Rabindra Bhavans in all districts. Published works বিপন্ন জাহাজের এক নাবিকের গল্প- Translated works of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez (1994)- On February 28, 1955, a Colombian Navy ship "Caladus" was hit by a storm in the Caribbean Sea. The ship started from Mobile, a port city in the US state of Alabama. The destination was the port of Cartagena, Colombia. The