Popular actor Vijay tops the list of names recommended from Tamil Nadu for the Padma awards to be announced on Monday, the eve of Republic Day. "About 20 names have been recommended from Tamil Nadu. One-third of the nominees will be selected for various categories of Padma awards like Padma Sri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan," a senior official of the home ministry dealing with the awards told Deccan Chronicle. The Congress has been wooing Vijay for quite sometime to join the party to give it a new lease of life in the state. The official, not wanting to be quoted, said Dr Pratap C. Reddy of the Apollo group of hospitals and D.R. Karthikeyan, CBI's ex-director, were also being considered.
