Politicos regret Lingayat seer Shivakumara Swamiji not being awarded Bharat Ratna

BENGALURU/TUMAKURU: The overlooking of Shivakumara Swamiji by the Centre for Bharat Ratna award has created ripples in political circles in Karnataka with even state BJP leaders expressing their disappointment.

While social media was abuzz with groups fighting each other, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy felt that the prestige of the award would have been more enhanced if it was conferred on the late seer of the Siddaganga mutt.

Apparently, the centenarian swamiji had not expected the award. He had not turned up to receive the Padma Bhushan award conferred on him in 2015.

A household name in the state, Shivakumara Swamiji had served millions of people by providing them with free food, shelter and education. As the head of the mutt from 1941 to 2011, he had built over 125 educational institutions.

Kumaraswamy had claimed that in 2007, he had proposed to the then president APJ Abdul Kalam to confer the award on the swamiji. Later, Siddaramaiah-led Congress government too claimed to have sent a similar proposal to the union government. “The three recipients of the Bharat Ratna are deserving. But the award would have been more coveted if Sri Shivakumara Swamiji too was conferred it”, the Chief Minister stated.

Taking a dig at BJP leaders, former chief minister Siddaramaiah said state BJP leaders should have convinced the Centre to confer the award on the late seer.Earlier, Congress leaders had taunted the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not visited Tumakuru to pay last respects to the swamiji.

READ HERE: How Shivakumara Swami scripted success at Siddaganga Mutt

Senior BJP leader and former minister Suresh Kumar’s social media post criticising the union government received hundreds of reactions. Thousands of people on social networking sites were found debating the matter and some still hope that the award may be announced in the future.

BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said, “Parliamentarians including 12 Rajya Sabha members should have exerted pressure on the Union cabinet and Modi to announce the award for the seer. The MPs must stage a protest until the government chooses him for the award”.  

“The Swamiji was conferred Padma Bhushan just four years ago and for any civilian award, five years of gap is required”, posted a BJP supporter. But detractors cited the instance of noted singer Lata Mangeshkar being conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2001 three years after she was presented Padma Shri in 1999.

“The service of the swamiji is greater than even Mother Teresa’s. Was it his mistake to be born as a Hindu as successive governments have ignored his contribution to the humankind”, former minister and senior BJP leader Sogadu Shivanna.

Former Lok Sabha member and BJP leader G S Basavaraju too expressed his unhappiness over the swamiji being left out. “The award should have been conferred on him when he was alive. We still hope that the government may consider him in April”, he said.

Incumbent Lok Sabha member S P Muddahanume Gowda of the Congress observed that though the swamiji deserved the country’s highest civilian award and millions of devotees expected it, the government failed to recognise it.

The head of the Siddaganga Mutt clarified that as the centenarian never went after awards, the mutt never expected Bharat Ratna for him.