Will Lingayats give Cong the key to power?
TUMKUR/SIRA: Call it an imponderable or the x-factor. The outcome of the impending polls in Karnataka will depend a lot on Lingayats, who have a demographic share of 16-17 per cent in the state.
Long identified with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the community is caught in a cleft stick. The reason: The Congress’s big overture, recognising it as a minority distinct from the Hindu faith.
To get a feel of the community’s pulse, I travelled to the town that is the seat of its muchrevered Sree Siddaganga Math. It’s a gurukula run on the teachings of the 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara (also known as Basavanna), who bequeathed to his followers a way of life outside the Vedic sphere.
But talking politics on the Math’s sprawling premises is taboo. Popularly associated with Lingayats, the spiritual-philanthropic hub is open to all social groups, including Dalits and Muslims.
In fact, I could meet the 111year-old head seer, Dr Sree Sree Sivakumara Swamiji, at the intervention of two Muslim social workers, Iqbal Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed.
“Not interested, can’t say,” whispered the Swamiji to questions about special status for Lingayats and its impact on the upcoming polls. About calls on him by top Congress and BJP leaders, he merely said: “I blessed them.”
He continues to be the math’s spiritual and religious head. But administrative duties have been entrusted to his young heir and declared successor, Sree Siddalinga Swamji.
The junior Swami was relatively upfront. He underscored the necessity to vote without betraying political preferences: “We just ask people to exercise their franchise without saying which side to go.
We do that as voting is the constitutional duty and responsibility of every citizen.” Asked whether the state government’s special status push for Lingayats could be a factor, he replied: “People change governments when they want; their power is supreme. They aren’t always influenced by promises and freebies. We’ve seen that happening in Tamil Nadu.” His emphasis on voter’s sovereignty was generic, not specific. It didn’t directly address the question.
The next stop was at the office of S Naganna, editor of the Tumkuru-based Kannada daily Praja Pragati.
An OBC Kuruba like Siddaramaiah, he has had a long association with the chief minister and his AHINDA alliance of OBCS, Muslims and Dalits that acquired form and shape in Tumkuru.