Some Lingayat organisations have said that both the national parties, the BJP and the Congress, have neglected candidates from the Lingayat communities.
Members of Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha and Akhil Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha held a series of meetings in various areas in the new city, to discuss the issue.
Veerashaiva Mahasabha held a meeting at Lingayat Bhavan in Belagavi on Wednesday. District president of the Veerashaiva Mahasabha Rathnaprabha Bellad expressed displeasure over distribution of party ticket.
She said that the meeting unanimously decided to “teach a lesson to the two parties” in the city corporation polls for this neglect. The meeting also discussed various poll strategies, she added.
Veerashaiva Mahasabha secretary Annasaheb Korabu, Shaila Samsuddi, Chetan Angadi, Rajkumar Topannanavar, Mahantesh Vakkund, Sujit Mulgund and Arvind Patil and others were present.
Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha members also held a few meetings in Belagavi on Wednesday and Thursday.
Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha president Basavaraj Rotti criticised the leaders of both the parties for neglecting Lingayats, who, according to him, form one sixth of the city’s population.
“There are over one lakh Lingayats in Belagavi city. They need to be properly represented. There are around 70,000 Lingayats in Belagavi North Assembly seat that has around 30 wards, but only five Lingayats have been given ticket by these parties. The number of Lingayats in Belagavi South Assembly seat is around 30,000 but only one Lingayat has been given ticket from there. This is unacceptable,” he said.
Mr. Rotti, who is also senior advocate and BJP leader, has campaigned for the BJP in the earlier Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. He accused the BJP of betraying the community.
“Our loyalty to the BJP has been taken for granted. We have been reduced only to party cadre and campaign workers. We are not getting political opportunities that we deserve,’’ he said.
He said that he and other Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha members will take this message to the voters in the urban local body polls. “We have seen that some BJP leaders have monopolised the ticket distribution process and given them away to their followers who are not mass leaders. This has worked against the interest of our community,” he said.
