India, Jan. 26 -- Congress and NCP (SP) leaders on Monday strongly criticised the decision to confer the Padma Bhushan on former Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, calling it an insult to the state and its people.

Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said Koshyari's tenure from September 2019 to February 2023 was marked by repeated controversies and actions that, he claimed, demeaned a constitutional office and hurt public sentiment. Speaking after attending the Republic Day function at the Congress office, Sapkal said he had even declined an award from a social organisation in Pune as it was to be presented by Koshyari.

Mumbai Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad alleged that the BJP had a history of insult...