New Delhi, Jan 25: Janata Dal (Secular) leader Danish Ali on Friday said former president Pranab Mukherjee was being awarded the Bharat Ratna as he had visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and had described Sangh ideologue K B Hedgewar as the "son of the soil".

The JD(S) secretary general also protested the award being conferred on Mukherjee and not on seer Shivakumara Swami of the Siddaganga mutt in Karnataka, who died at the age of 111.

"Pranab Mukherjee is being awarded the Bharat Ratna because he visited the RSS headquarters and described the founding Sarsanghchalak chief, K B Hedgewar, as 'the son of the soil'," he said.

Ali added that there were more deserving candidates than the former president in the field of politics, like Biju Patnaik and Kanshi Ram, who had worked for the masses.

"We protest this as Sri Sri Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga has not been conferred the award. Swamiji was a legend and had worked towards the social welfare of people all his life," he said.

Ali added that the people of Karnataka would teach a lesson to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not conferring the award on Shivakumara Swami.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Bringing much relief to the people battered by the scorching summer, heavy rains coupled with hailstorm lashed the city on Wednesday.

The thunderous downpour with stormy wind cooled the city, where the temperature had soared to 37 degree.

With the rains, the city, from being parched, witnessed waterlogging in just two hours.

There was waist-deep water in many areas in the city such as Richmond Town and Shanthinagar resembling a river.

The unexpected rain did not spare Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power, as water gushed inside the government offices from the lobby. The office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka was also flooded.

Since the downpour occurred in the evening, many office goers struggled to return home.

Uprooting of trees was reported in many parts of the city, including Malleswaram, Shanthinagar and Seshadripuram.