Five years after the state government had recommended a separate religion status for Lingayats, prominent leaders from the community are renewing their demand for the same. The Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha, a forum formed in 2018, held a two-day conference in Karnataka in the first week of March and passed a resolution to push for the Union government to accept the recommendation. In March 2018, just months before the Assembly polls, the government headed by Siddaramaiah had sent a recommendation to the Union government, to grant a religious minority tag to Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayat communities. Subsequently, the BJP-led Union government rejected the recommendation.
With Assembly elections just a few months away, the group has once again brought its demand to the fore. Over 20 seers attended the conference and leaders of the community. But politicians across party lines were kept away from the meeting.
But that said, politics was at the centre of the decision made. The Congress has been silently trying to woo the community, which is numerically powerful in the state. Without the latest caste census data, Lingayats are believed to constitute around 15-17% of the voting population and can sway the outcome of the elections. The Congress leaders hope to take advantage of the vacuum created by the absence of Yediyurappa – the most prominent politician from the Lingayat community – who announced his retirement from electoral politics.
In 2018, former minister MB Patil led the demand to accord a separate religion status to Lingayats. Although many leaders within his party, Congress, had found it too risky a move ahead of elections, the then CM Siddaramaiah had supported and thrown the weight of his government behind it. But it failed to bring Congress electoral benefits. And now, insiders say, a more insidious attempt has been made to mobilise the Lingayat community away from the BJP.
With Congress staying away from the conference this time, the demand, unlike in 2018 is seen largely as an apolitical one that will hit the BJP harder. The beleaguered Bommai government is already scrambling to meet the demands for reservation under the 2A category of the state reservation list by Panchamasalis, the largest sub-sects among Lingayats. They have been protesting for several months and have taken the fight to the Chief Minister’s doorstep.
The two-day event also passed other resolutions, including a demand to celebrate Basava Jayanthi across the country and name the new Parliament Anubhava Mantapa. May 14 is celebrated as Basava Jayanthi to mark the birth anniversary of the 12th-century philosopher Basavanna. Anubhava Mantapa, which translates to 'hall of experience', was established by him in Bidar district's Basavakalyan and is often said to be the world’s first religious parliament.