Former BJP Member of the Legislative Council BJ Puttaswamy was on Monday, May 16, appointed the head seer of the new Thaileswara Ganigara Mahasamsthana Mutt in Bengaluru.  The former politician had announced earlier this month that he would be renouncing public life and would be embracing ‘sanyas’, the ascetic way of life. 

At a ceremony on Sunday, the 83-year-old former politician was appointed as the head seer of the newly-opened Bengaluru mutt, which represents the backward caste of Ganigas, as per a report by the Times of India. The new mutt is located near Nelamangala in Bengaluru and has a community hall and students’ hostel.

Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, housing minister V Somanna, BJP national general secretary CT Ravi and many other BJP leaders attended the ceremony on Sunday. 

At the ceremony, Puttaswamy said that he chose this way of life as he did not have the desire for political power, and that he wanted to serve the Ganiga community. 

Earlier this month, Puttaswamy had taken ‘Brahmacharya’ or the vows of celibacy. On May 5, he was christened as Poornanandapuri Swami by the seer of Kailasa Ashrama Mahasamsthana Mutt, Jayendra Puri. He has now been appointed as the first pontiff of the Thaileswara Ganigara Mahasamsthana Mutt in Bengaluru. 

The 83-year-old Puttaswamy was a close aide of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Puttaswamy was till recently the vice-chairperson of the Karnataka State Policy and Planning Commission. He had earlier served as a minister in the Jagadish Shettar cabinet.

Before becoming an MLC, Puttaswamy had earlier served as the president of the Akhila Karnataka Ganigara Sangha. He was nominated to the Legislative Council by the Congress (I) and served as MLC from 2012-2018. When BS Yediyurappa had floated his own party — the Karnataka Janata Party — Puttaswamy, his long-time loyalist, had attended a rally in violation of the BJP’s instructions, after which he was sacked from the Cabinet.