BENGALURU: BJP president
Amit Shah will visit the mutts of dalits and Lingayats on March 26 and 27 in what is being seen as a counter to
Rahul Gandhi's temple-hopping spree in poll-bound Karnataka.
While the tour details are being given final touches by the BJP, Amit Shah has confirmed his visit to the prominent Madara Chennaiah mutt in Chitradurga.
Party sources state that the BJP chief's intent is to woo the Chennaiah mutt seer and his followers, who are primarily from the Madigah sub-sect of the dalits, and break the AHINDA votebank of chief minister
Siddaramaiah ahead of the 2018 elections.
“The national president is scheduled to meet several dalit leaders at the mutt and hold a discussion with them on various issues, including perhaps the demand for internal reservations sought by the Madigha community,” said a partyworker.
After his visit to the Madara Chennai mutt, Amit Shah will be making a public appearance at an ST convention in Challakere taluk of the Chitradurga district.
The BJP chief will also make a whirlwind tour of the Siddaganga and Bekkinakal mutts on March 26 as well as Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihamath (Sirigere mutt) and the Muruga Rajendra mutt to meet the seers on March 27.
Amit Shah is scheduled to have lunch at the Sirigere mutt on March 27.
Meanwhile, in other politically significant visits, the BJP president will be making a brief stopover at Kupahalli to visit the memorial of Karnataka’s rashtrakavi Kuvempu. The noted poet and littérateur is also considered an icon and representative of the Vokkaliga community.
During his two-day visit, Shah will also send out a message to the factions within the BJP by having dinner with the leaders of the two rival factions of the state leadership, K S Eshwarappa and B S Yeddyurappa.
It is significant to note that the dinner has been organised in Shivamogga, the home district of both Eshwarappa and Yeddyurappa.
The BJP president will also take part in the Mushtidanya Sangrahan Abihyaan (fistful of foodgrains campaign) in a small village of Doddabathi, nine kilometers from Davangere.
