The Veerashaiva Mahasabha ruled out changing its stand on seeking the demand for a ‘religious minority’ status for Lingayat/Veerashaiva community.
Sources said the mahasabha chairman, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and veteran Congress leader has decided to oppose the government’s move on recommending ‘religious minority’ tag only for Lingayat community to the Centre.
Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi, has requested Mr. Shivashankarappa to give up his organisation’s “adamant stand” on the matter.
Mr. Shivashankarappa has been demanding tag for Lingayat/Veerashaiva community.
Differences cropped up in the Cabinet over recommending ‘religious minority’ tag for the Lingayat community, forcing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to defer the decision on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Rayaraddi said the Lingayats have been demanding ‘religious minority’ tag for the Lingayat community for several years. It was not wise on the part of the Veerashaiva Mahasabha to oppose this.
While Ministers Eshwar Khandre and S.S. Mallikarjun have been demanding the status to be accorded to ‘Veerashaiva/Lingayat’ community, Ministers Rayaraddi, M.B. Patil and Vinay Kulkarni, have been advocating the tag only for Lingayats.
The divide within the Cabinet over the issue has all the potential to upset Mr. Siddaramaiah’s calculations to accept the report in a hurry and use it as an effective poll issue to dent BJP’s Veerashaiva-Lingayat voter base.
According to sources, Mr. Siddaramaiah has decided to evolve a consensus by holding talks with Mr. Shivashankarappa before the next Cabinet meeting scheduled on March 14.
