MHA forwards Lingayat proposal to minority affairs ministry

NEWDELHI: The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Thursday said it had forwarded the Karnataka government’s proposal seeking religious minority status for the Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat community to the ministry of minority affairs (MMA).

An MHA spokesperson said the proposal, which the Karnataka government introduced last month, will be “dealt with” by the MMA, as the matter was beyond the jurisdiction of the MHA.

The official, however, added that a decision can’t be expected anytime soon as the model code of conduct has been in force in Karnataka, where Assembly election is due next month. “Examination, consideration and decision on the subject will be done by the Union ministry of the minority affairs, as the subject matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the MHA,” said the spokesperson.

Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told HT that his ministry had received the proposal and the same will be examined. “The proposal was rejected by the Congress government when it was in power in 2013. We have received the proposal and will see if there is anything different or fresh in it,” said Naqvi. The national spokesperson of the Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi, slammed the claim as “incorrect”. “In 2013, the outgoing Karnataka CM, Yeddyurappa, in an attempt to score some brownie points, wrote to the Centre asking for the status for the Lingayats. The Centre, in return, said the decision was the state’s prerogative and asked him to get its nod. It wasn’t a rejection,” said Chaturvedi.