Cong, BJP battle for Lingayat votes as race for K’taka hots up
LINGAYATS MOVED AWAY FROM THE CONGRESS IN 1990 AFTER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT REMOVED VEERENDRA PATIL, A TALL
LINGAYAT LEADER, AS CHIEF MINISTER
thought it would. The reason is that the chief minister seems to have thrown his weight behind the long-standing demand by a section of Lingayats without really understanding the complexity of the issue,” said A Narayana, associate professor for public policy at the Bengalurubased Azim Premji University.
“A very small section of life stats may have come to favour the Congress,” he added.
Lingayats moved away from the Congress in 1990 after the central government removed Veerendra Patil, a tall Lingayat leader, as chief minister. Since then, the party has repeatedly tried to win back the support of the community and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had even flown to Karnataka in April 2012 to attend the 105th birthday celebrations of Swami Shivakumara of the Tumakuru-based Siddaganga Math. The seer, who turned 111 on April 1 this year, heads 125 institutions and provides education and food to thousands of students and has a huge following across the state’s political and social spectrum.
Junior pontiff Siddalinga Swami refused to comment on the issue but insisted that he would appeal to the followers of the mutt to cast their votes in large numbers.
“But we don’t tell them to vote for any particular party. That is their democratic right and their choice,” he said.
Some others viewed chief minister Siddaramaiah’s decisions with skepticism.
“It was clearly an attempt to divide the community but people are clever enough to understand the real motive behind the move,” said H Doreswamy in Davanagere.
State Congress chief G Parameshwara, however, dismissed suggestions that there was political motive and maintained the ruling party did not expect any major electoral dividend. The BJP’s Karnataka in-charge P Muralidhar Rao attacked the Congress for the move. “The Congress is carrying forward the divide and rule policy of the British in India,” he had said.
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the head of the Chitradurgabased Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Mutt, a powerful Lingayat religious centre, says the hype over the demand for a separate religious status for Lingayats at a time when assembly elections in Karnataka are round the corner is a positive development as the issue is getting a lot of publicity. In an interview to Aurangzeb Naqshbandi, he calls chief minister Siddaramaiah a seasoned and a brilliant politician, but asserts that he will not issue any appeal to his followers to vote for a particular party.
Will you ask your followers to vote for either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party?
Ours is an apolitical but at the same time a secular mutt. We are against all forms of fundamentalism and casteism. I don’t want to put pressure on the people to vote for a particular party because we are living in a democratic set-up. Voters nowadays know what is right and what is wrong for them. I am hopeful they will take proper steps and try to evolve a consensus.
But weren’t the Lingayats a traditional vote bank of the BJP? Don’t you think the Lingayat vote is divided this time?
There is no confusion. Lingayats are very clear that they need the support of all political parties to get the status accorded. I told (BJP chief) Amit Shah that Lingayats are not restricted to one party and belong to all parties such as the Congress, Janata Dal (Secular) and the BJP. I told him that if you get the status accorded, people will be happy. That was my message to him.
Has the issue been politicised due to the approaching polls?
Unfortunately, the movement for a separate religious status for Lingayats got a political shape. Some people used this issue to attack the Congress government. Siddaramaiah, who is a seasoned politician and a brilliant person, was accused of dividing the Lingayats. It is a very sad development. He took some favourable steps on the issue. There are 99 subcastes under the banner of Lingayats, and Veerashaivas are one among those. I call it a philosophical movement. The hype over our demand is a very positive development. This is for the first time that such level of publicity is being given to the issue and we are getting the opportunity to be heard. Even after the elections, we will continue our fight for a separate religious status.
Why have you launched the voter awareness campaign?
I request the people to vote compulsorily. In some countries like Australia, voting is compulsory. Through this campaign, I tell the public to vote and select a right candidate. Every vote has a value, so I urge them not to sell that.
CHITRADURGA: