New Delhi: Former Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar and George Fernandes have been conferred Padma awards posthumously, according to an official announcement made on Saturday.

While Sushma Swaraj, Jaitley and Fernandes will be awarded with Padma Vibhushan posthumously, Parrikar will be conferred Padma Bhushan. Jaitley, a former finance minister, passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in August 2019. He was 66. Jaitley first became a Cabinet minister in the government of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000. He then also went on to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from June 2009. He was appointed the finance minister in the first term of Modi government in 2014 and opted out of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing health reasons.