Hyderabad: In major embarrassment for Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh government was on Tuesday forced to withdraw an order to rename the ‘APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards’ after the CM’s father, the late YSR Reddy, following sharp criticism from the opposition.

The order issued on Monday had said that the award would be renamed ‘YSR Vidya Puraskar’. The award is presented to meritorious Class 10 students on November 11, celebrated as National Education Day on the eve of Moulana Abul Kalam Azad’s birth anniversary. The best performing students are awarded merit certificates, a memento and scholarships to meet higher education costs.

Andhra Pradesh Government redesignates "Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards" as "YSR Vidya Puraskars" from 2019 onwards, for distribution on the occasion of National Education Day (birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad), on 11th November. pic.twitter.com/f0SLE7rYm7 — ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2019

The award was earlier known as ‘Prathibha Awards’, but the name was changed to honour former president and ‘missile man of India’ APJ Abdul Kalam by the Chandrababu Naidu government in 2017.