KALABURAGI: Can the Congress party’s ‘symbolic gesture’ of appointing Veerashaiva-Lingayat legislator from Bhalki, Eshwar Khandre as the working president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) help the party win over the support of the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community which has been alienated from the Congress? A section of senior Congress leaders feel the high command’s decision will not help the party much as the community has been totally alienated from the party. The ill-conceived move by the previous Siddaramaiah government to divide the community in the garb of recommending independent religion status for Lingayats is viewed as the ‘last nail’ in the coffin of the fragile relationship between the Congress and the dominant community.
It’s the view of many senior Lingayat leaders, including some of those who silently threw their weight behind the move, that the Siddaramaiah govenrment’s decision on the eve of the Assembly election led to the near total consolidation of Veerashaiva- Lingayats against the Congress and in favour of the BJP instead of dividing votes and benefitting the Congress. “Now by elevating a relatively junior leader like Mr Eshwar Khandre, who disapproved of the Siddaramaiah government’s move to divide the community while brushing aside the claims of senior Lingayat leaders like M.B. Patil and S.R. Patil, besides H.K. Patil (he doesn’t belong to the Lingayat community) the Congress wants to send out the message that it still values the support of the community. But this is only a symbolic gesture and will not help the party much. The Congress should do more to help the community directly instead of appointing a leader from the community”, argued a seasoned politician.
The alienation of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community from the Congress started much before late Chief Minister Veerendra Patil was unceremoniously removed from the post of chief minister in 1990 by the then AICC President Rajiv Gandhi when the former was indisposed. Patil was credited with mobilising the Lingayats for the Congress and was instrumental in its biggest ever victory in 1989 (179 of the 224 seats). It was after a full 18 years that a Lingayat leader had become CM of the state then. The erosion of the Lingayat vote bank started after the dismissal of the first Veerendra Patil government in 1971 following the raising of the banner of revolt by late CM Devaraj Urs after the famous ‘Lalbagh Glass House’ meeting and subsequent elevation of Urs as chief minister.
“Various measures initiated by late Urs such as introduction of the historic law giving the tiller ownership of the land, made many big landlords who mostly belonged to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community in the north Karnataka region lose their land. The propping up of backward community leaders also contributed to the Lingayats distancing themselves from the Congress. The simmering discontent among the two major communities –Vokkaligas and Lingayats- against the Congress was one of the main reasons for the growth of the Janata Parivar in the state”, observers feel.
The main challenge before Mr Eshwar now is to unite leaders of different factions in the party. “The Congress has three main factions in Bidar district- one headed by the Khandre family itself and another headed by the Humnabad family. The third faction, which largely involves backward class and minority leaders, is led by the Dharam Singh family. With the retirement of Mr Bheemanna Khandre from politics and demise of the strongman of Humnabad, Basvaraj Patil Humnabad, many thought the old rivalry between the two factions had ended and the new generation involving Mr Eshwar and Mr Rajshekhar Patil would bury their hatchet. But by openly voicing his opposition to the appointment of Rajashekhar Patil as Minister and subsequently boycotting the felicitation ceremony organised by the Bidar District Congress Committee, Mr Eshwar has once again lit the fire of dissent. Now that he has become KPCC Working President, he should avoid such actions and take up the responsibility of uniting leaders of all factions,” commented a senior leader from the district.
