I only suggested names: Lata Mangeshkar on Padma recommendations

Mumbai, Nov 12: Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar is miffed over reports suggesting that she among others pushed her family and friends for this year's Padma awards, saying she "does not recommend names but the committee asks for suggestions".

According to an RTI reply, the list of recommendations for this year's Padma awards shows that some people had suggested multiple candidates while others had pushed for their relatives and friends for the honours.

The 84-year-old singer was said to have recommended two names -- that of sister Usha Mangeshkar and playback singer Suresh Wadkar for the coveted civil honours.

"Yesterday, I read in the newspapers that I recommended few names for this year's Padma award but I must tell you that every year I get letter from the committee to suggest names for the award.

"This year I suggested my sister Usha and friend Sureshji's names because they are highly deserving people. Usha had sung in almost all the Indian languages including Assamese, Gujarati, Marathi and Sureshji have been singing for the past 40 years," Mangeshkar tweeted.

The Bharat Ratna awardee also said that from next year onwards she won't suggest any name for the recognition.

"I haven't done anything wrong in suggesting the names of these multi-faceted artistes' names. But from now onwards, I won't give any suggestions," Mangeshkar added.