With Assembly elections inching closer in Karnataka, Veerashaiva-Lingayat political narrative is in the forefront again. With the Lingayat strongman B.S. Yediyurappa retiring from electoral politics, the BJP is seen trying to protect its crucial support base, while the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) are seeking a bigger share of the community’s votes.
The parties are often seen exchanging barbs over perceived ‘insult’ meted out to the community’s leaders by their rivals.
BJP leaders continue to harp on Congress insulting former Chief Ministers the late S. Nijalingappa and the late B. Veerendra Patil, while Congress hits back saying that the BJP insulted Mr. Yediyurappa by forcing him to step down from the post of Chief Minister.
These exchanges are testimony to the importance of the community in Karnataka’s politics, with nine Veerashaiva-Lingayats having been Chief Ministers, including incumbent Basavaraj Bommai.
Multiple sources in Congress believe that the optics of the ‘unceremonious exit’ of Mr. Yediyurappa, the community’s tallest leader currently, and mishandling of the Panchamasali movement for 2-A status in OBC reservation, could help the party regain some lost ground. “The community leaders believe that despite a Lingayat helming the BJP government, not much has been done for them. Increasingly, the community believes that the Mr. Bommai-led government is being indirectly managed by the RSS,” a Congress Lingayat leader said.
HDK’s statement creates flutter
Political leaders across parties acknowledged that Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s statement about BJP being keen to make a leader from the Brahmin community as the next chief minister has resonated within the community. BJP is seen trying to go the extra mile not to be seen as a ‘Brahmin party’.
While 58 Veerashaiva-Lingayats won in 2018, the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha claims that the community’s votes are crucial in about 70 other seats, including reserved constituencies.
In the 2018 elections, the community is believed to have played a role in the Congress’s poor performance, as a result of Siddaramaiah supporting the demand for a separate religion tag for Lingayats, which was perceived as an attempt to ‘divide’ the community. While some say the issue is now ‘dead’, with KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar apologising for the move, Congress detractors say that Mr. Siddaramaiah is still seen with suspicion.
Demand for tickets
Meanwhile, the Lingayat faction within the Congress has petitioned senior leaders to give tickets to Lingayats in 70 constituencies that were identified based on community presence, candidate and economic clout. This includes many constituencies in south Karnataka.
“Lingayats play a crucial role here, though the popular narrative is of Vokkaliga dominance in south Karnataka. After leaders such as B. Rajshekarmurthy, Gurupadaswamy, Benki Mahadev and M.V. Rajashekaran, Old Mysore region has not seen the emergence of a new leadership from the community, either in BJP or Congress,” sources said, making a case for more tickets to Lingayats.
BJP extends olive branch to BSY
The ruling BJP, which kept Mr. Yediyurappa at bay till recently, has brought him to the forefront in their campaign, and the outreach has come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Without credible second-rung Lingayat leaders, the party is trying to utilise Mr. Yediyurappa’s goodwill among the voters. The visibility of Mr. Yediyurappa is seen as an acknowledgement by the central leadership that he alone could bring Veerashaiva-Lingayat sub-castes together, something Mr. Bommai has not been able to achieve.
