Deep divisions persist within the Lingayat community members and leaders over the demand for an independent religion tag despite a consensus at a meeting recently on forming an expert committee to look into the issue.
While everyone seems to have agreed upon the demand for an independent religion, the biggest task of the experts committee, to be formed taking five members each from two factions, will be to arrive at a consensus on the nomenclature: ‘Lingayat’ or ‘Lingayat/Veerashaiva’.
The Ministers within the State Cabinet are divided over the issue. While M.B. Patil and Vinay Kulkarni are for ‘Lingayat’ nomenclature, Eshwar Khandre and the former Minister and president of the Akhila Bharat Veerashaiva Mahasabha Shamanuru Shivashankarappa are for ‘Veerashaiva/ Lingayat’ nomenclature and there is no sign of a consensus. After much mud-slinging, a temporary truce has been reached between them but differences are far from resolved.
A new development is that the meeting, which resolved to form the expert committee, saw the participation of two BJP leaders, Prabhakar Kore and MLC Mahanthesh Kavatagimath, both associated with Karnataka Lingayat Education (KLE) Society.
Their participation comes at a time when BJP leaders have distanced themselves from the issue, reportedly following a diktat from the party high command. However reliable sources in BJP clarified that their participation has nothing to do with the party. A matter of concern for the BJP is that after the recent criticism of Lingayat seers and political leaders by RSS Pracharak Su. Ramanna, an anti-RSS campaign has been initiated by Lingayat groups through social media.
Meanwhile the Pancha Peethas of Veerashaiva sect are still opposed to demand for independent religion status and the seer of Rambhapuri Peetha Veerasomeshwara Shivacharya Swami has already expressed dissent over the consensus reached at the meeting over taking forward the movement for independent religion status.