Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has said that the State Government would send a proposal to the Centre seeking ‘Bharat Ratna’ posthumously for former Chief Minister late S. Nijalingappa.
Speaking to press persons after garlanding the statue of Nijalingappa marking his 115th birth anniversary at Vidhana Soudha here yesterday, the CM said he would urge the Centre to install Nijalingappa’s statue at the Parliament Bhavan.
Receiving a petition from Kannada Chaluvali leader Vatal Nagar seeking ‘Bharat Ratna’ for Nijalingappa, the CM said that he would propose the Centre to confer ‘Bharat Ratna’ on Nijalingappa, who contributed enormously to the State in several fields such as irrigation and education.
Bharata Ratna is already degraded beyond redemption by awarding it to people who do not really it. The late Nijalingappa did not really like opposition party candidates standing against in Assembly elections, and managed to get them off so that he could get elected unopposed. He saw his power fast slipping away, during Indira Gandhi’s emergency time, and opposed her not because of the emergency she imposed, but because he was no longer in her inner circle. He was a pygmy compared to Kamaraj who after Nehru and Shastri’s death became the king maker and got Indira Gandhi installed as the PM.