The Veerashaiva-Lingayat movement that had set the tone of the pre-poll campaign is casting a shadow on the Cabinet expansion of the newly formed government.
The Akhila Bharath Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which is seeking the post of Deputy Chief Minister for its president and former Minister Shamanur Shivashankarappa, on Monday took exception to seer Mate Mahadevi’s demand that the post be given to M.B. Patil, who supported the separate religion tag demand for Lingayats.
“She has contributed to the electoral defeat of several young and senior leaders and Ministers from the community. We hope the Congress high command does not heed to her demand,” said N. Thippanna, senior vice-president of the Mahasabha, in a press release.
The development since Sunday is an indicator of the scramble for Cabinet berths within the Veershaiva-Lingayat community. “Of the 16 Veerashaiva-Lingayat legislators in the Congress, at least a dozen are lobbying for Cabinet berths. Also, some legislators are opposed to the induction of leaders such as M.B. Patil for leading the movement for minority status and S.R. Patil (MLC) for not helping the party candidates during the elections,” a senior Mahasabha functionary said.
However, the president of the newly formed Lingayat Mahasabha Basavaraj Horatti, who is a JD(S) MLC, dismissed these suggestions and said political compulsions would override other issues. Acknowledging that the caste formula would be a major factor in this decision, he said, “The legislators have all just won an election. If they quit and contest again, there is no guarantee they will win again.”
Congress MLA Mohan Kondajji said: “The Lingayat movement was genuine but lost its credibility because of political personalities from both factions entering it. Unfortunately, both were led by Congress Ministers in the Cabinet, which led to confusion. However, this movement won’t have any impact on the Cabinet formation.”
Meanwhile, other leaders in the Congress and the JD(S) said issues such as caste pull and regional balance would keep Cabinet formation pending for some time. “The Cabinet formation will not be completed before the results of the Jayanagar elections. It may be done in phases,” a senior Congress leader said.
Representing south
The Mahasabha, it is learnt, has also asked the Congress leadership to consider giving representation to a Lingayat leader from Old Mysuru region.
“We have a sizeable Veerashaiva-Lingayat population in the southern districts, and yet there is no representation. In fact, in the Congress-JD(S) coalition, there is only one legislator from the community elected from the region,” said a source in the Mahasabha.
