May 21,2018
Legendary singer Asha Bhosle was conferred the Banga Bibhushan, the West
Bengal Government's highest award, by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.
"I am elated that Asha Bhosle has accepted our invitation and has taken the
pain to come here. We can never forget her contribution," Banerjee said at the
event.
Bengali matinee idol Prosenjit Chatterjee and Justice Shyamal
Kumar Sen (retd) also received the Banga Bibhushan.
On Banerjee's
request, the veteran singer mesmerised everyone by rendering a Bengali song.
Banerjee said "one cannot forget Bhosle's connection to the soil of Bengal"
as she and her sister Lata Mangeshkar have sung many Bengali songs and it is a
matter of pride for the Bengalis.
"We couldn't invite Lata Mangeshkar,
owing to her health but we extend our best regards to her through Ashaji," said
Banerjee.
This year, writer Samaresh Majumdar and footballer Subrata
Bhattacharya also received the Banga Bibhushan.
Other recipients of the
prestigious award included Girija Shankar Rai (writer), S.K. Bhowmik
(researcher), Mohammed Habib (football player).
Singers Sriradha
Bandopadhyay, Arundhati Homchoudhury and Partha Ghosh (elocutionist) received
the Banga Bhushan award.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government instituted
these awards in 2011 after it came to power.