An FIR has been filed against senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge by a local NGO  named Sahay, Asom at Morigaon Police Station on Sunday for his comments on the center for conferring Bharat Ratna to Dr Bhupen Hazarika.

Kharge slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for ignoring spiritual leader Shivakumara Swami from the Bharat Ratna.

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.

(Featured image : The Indian Express)