The Veerashaiva-Lingayat caste narrative in Karnataka politics has come to the fore again as the ruling BJP and the principal Opposition party, the Congress, are battling for this crucial vote bank, about eight months before the Assembly polls.
Earlier this month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the Murugha Mutt, a prominent Lingayat mutt in central Karnataka, where he underwent a ‘Linga Dharana’ initiation. Soon after, the BJP inducted Lingayat strongman and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa into the party’s Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee. The 79-year-old’s elevation to the two key panels is being viewed as an attempt by the party to soothe the hurt pride of the Lingayat leader after he was forced to step down from the Chief Minister’s post. Days later, former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah, who has been accused of attempting to divide the community by supporting a movement for a separate religion status to them in 2017, met the seer of Rambhapuri Mutt, another prominent religious institution. He is believed to have explained to the seer the sequences of events that led to that movement. The KPCC campaign committee head M.B. Patil has also been criss-crossing the State visiting Lingayat mutts.
The Congress’s attempts to woo back Lingayat voters comes at a time when Mr. Yediyurappa’s sway over the community is seen as waning. Observers of Lingayat politics believe that the community stood by him in the past since he had a chance to become the Chief Minister, which will not be the case in the next election.
