Bengaluru: Many may dub it a populist gimmick ahead of the Assembly elections in 2018, but Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leaving no stone unturned to win over the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka, long considered a solid vote bank of the BJP.
On Friday, his Congress government constituted a seven-member committee to look into the issue of minori ty status as well as separate religion tag for Lingayats. The panel has been given a month to submit its recommendation to the Karnataka State Minority Development Commission.
The committee includes former judge of Karnataka High Court, Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das, Kannada Development Authority Chairman Prof S.G. Siddaramaiah and former chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission Dr C.S. Dwarakanath. It will examine representations from groups and individuals belonging to Lingayat/Veerashaiva Lingayats for religion status and minority community tag.
Poll effect! Panel to study Lingayat religion tag demand
This is seen as a clever move by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in view of the coming 2018 Assembly polls. The committee consists of former judge of the Karnataka High Court, Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das, Kannada Development Authority Chairman Prof S.G. Siddaramaiah, BKV College lecturer Dr Ramakrishna Marathe, journalist Sarjoo Katkar, former chairman of State Backward Classess Commission Dr C.S. Dwarakanath, professor of political science, University of Mysore Prof Muzzaffar Assadi, and professor and dean, Kannada Language Chair, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Prof Purushottam Bilimane. The secretary of the State Minority Commission will be the secretary of the expert committee.
According to the order issued on Friday, the expert committee has to examine representations received from various groups and individuals belonging to Lingayat/Veerashaiva Lingayats for treating their community as a separate religion and demanding the minority tag.
The Lingayats led by Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil, Mines and Geology Minister Vinay Kulkarni and Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil have been in the forefront of the campaign demanding separate religion tag or minority status.
This issue has already created fissures in the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community with seers belonging to various mutts indulging in mudslinging.
