Reacting to recently conferred Bharat Ratna award on Sudhakantha Bhupen Hazarika, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that the government has chosen a singer (Bhupen Hazarika) and ignored Shivakumara Swami, a spiritual leader who passed away Monday (January 21).

Expressing disappointment, Kharge said the government had seen Swami's works and rather chose to award a singer (Bhupen Hazarika) and a "man who propagated their RSS ideology" (Nanaji Deshmukh).

"If you compare all of them, then Shivakumara Swami ji should have been given the award," Kharge was quoted as saying by ANI.

However, the Congressman welcomed the decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on former president Pranab Mukherjee, but said that his party had high hopes for Shivakumara Swami to get the highest civilian award.