A day after a brief interaction between Padma Shri awardee Dr Anil Kumar Rastogi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Padma Awards ceremony went viral on social media, the veteran actor-scientist on Wednesday issued a clarification, saying he inadvertently missed the Prime Minister’s extended hand because of his age and the overwhelming nature of the occasion.
The video, widely circulated online, showed Rastogi walking towards the stage to receive the Padma Shri from President Droupadi Murmu. As Prime Minister Modi appeared to extend his hand for a handshake, Rastogi greeted him with folded hands and moved ahead, prompting a flurry of reactions online.
The clip was shared by Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale, who captioned it as “Modi’s event management fail”. Responding to the criticism, Rastogi defended the Prime Minister and dismissed attempts to politicise the incident.
“For all those making fun, I’m a man of 80+ years. This was an oversight on my part due to my age. I have huge respect for our PM and feel that he is the best choice we currently have for running the country,” he wrote in a reply to Gokhale’s post.
In another post, Rastogi said “not everything is about politics” and expressed disappointment that the focus had shifted away from the award ceremony itself.
“It is unfortunate that of all the things that happened in the ceremony, this is what some people want to concentrate on,” he wrote.
“I only came to know about this when I watched the telecast later. I was out to receive one of India’s highest civilian awards, a big achievement for me. I was anxious and overwhelmed and missed that stretched hand.”
Stressing that the incident should not be interpreted as disrespect, Rastogi said, “That does not mean I respect the man any less. I have always been a BJP supporter and have very high regard for Narendra Modi.”
He further stated that, in his view, Modi was the most experienced and capable leader currently in active politics.
According to the official Padma Awards profile, Rastogi is an eminent artist with contributions spanning theatre, cinema, radio and television. He has staged around 1,000 performances of nearly 100 plays, acted in over 75 feature films and appeared in more than 500 television episodes.
Besides his artistic achievements, he is also an accomplished scientist with more than 78 co-authored research publications and is known for his philanthropic work for destitute patients.
