JOIN USA committee, led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday took up a proposal seeking Bharat Ratna for Siddaganga Mutt seer Shivakumara Swamiji for discussion during the meeting held in New Delhi.
No formal announcement has been made on the issue though. Last year too, the name of Siddaganga seer for India's highest civilian award was proposed during the selection committee meeting.
Early this week, former chief minister and BJP leader S M Krishna had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Bharat Ratna to the centenarian seer.
In the letter, a copy of which is available with DH, Krishna has stated, "The 111-year-old Swamiji is rendering service to the society for the past eight decades, uplifting lakhs of needy and downtrodden. The seer, who believes in an egalitarian society, has been preaching against the practice of superstition, social evils and discrimination of all kinds." He added that the seer richly deserves India's highest civilian honour.