Seer stirs BJP’S troubled Lingayat waters, queers pitch for Union Minister

A PROMINENT Lingayat seer from Dharwad in Karnataka is turning out to be a major headache for Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi. On Monday, Fakir Dingaleshwara Swami, the pontiff of Shirahatti and Balehosur Bhavaikyatha Sanstana Mutt, announced his decision to contest as an Independent from Dharwad, Joshi’s pocketborough.

At a news conference, the seer said that in the 20 years Joshi had been MP, he had been "a zero" when it came to development works and a "hero in subjugating other communities, leaders". He also asked why the BJP had fielded three Brahmins as candidates across Karnataka — in a reference to Joshi, Tejasvi Surya from Bangalore South and Visveshwar Hegde Kageri from Uttara Kannada — while "ignoring" communities.

Joshi is seeking to win a fifth Lok Sabha election. While three of his four wins have been from Dharwad, one was from Dharwad North, which ceased to exist after the 2008 delimitation.

The seer’s declaration has caused the BJP some jitters. While given that the party has dominated the seat for over two decades, it may still win Dharwad. But the seer joining the race raises the prospects of a possible split in the Veerashaiva Lingayat vote, which could give the Congress an edge.

The Dingaleshwara seer’s reference to "the role of Joshi in subjugating Lingayat leaders in the region" was seen as a reference to the denial of a ticket to former CM Jagadish Shettar in the 2023 Assembly polls. Shettar contested on a Congress ticket from Hublidharwad Central Assembly segment but lost. While the Congress made him an MLC, he is now back in the BJP courtesy B S Yediyurappa and is now a candidate from the Belgaum.