Netas led by ‘seer’ faith

BENGALURU: What role will mutts (religious institutions) play this elections in the background of Siddaramaiah granting the religious minority status to Lingayats-Veerashaivas?Analysts and watchers say with hundreds of mutts dominating the state’s political landscape, their influence will be considerable in many constituencies.However, the electoral battle especially in central and north Karnataka region may see a clear polarisation not just on caste lines but on the issue of minority status.

Mutt hopping

On the two main parties, the effect has been considerable with their leaders hopping from mutt to mutt. In the last few weeks, one has seen a beeline of Congress and BJP national and state leaders at many influential mutts seeking the support of seers for their party in the May 12 assembly polls. When the revered Siddaganga Mutt Swami turned 111 recently, both BJP and Congress bigwigs jostled with the other to get his blessings.

With Congress changing its strategy since Gujarat elections and adopting  soft Hindutva, their national president Rahul Gandhi has been hopping from temple to temple and seeking blessings from religious heads. Rahul has continued the same routine in Karnataka.Reciting vachanas, invoking Basvanna in every public speech, he has been meeting prominent seers of Lingayats who have traditionally voted for the BJP.Amit Shah has gone one step further, visiting birthplaces of saints such as Kanakadasa (a saint revered by Kurubas) although he failed to meet the seer there who in fact had gone to meet Rahul.

Not to be left behind, the CM contenders Siddaramaiah and Yeddyurappa have been having back door parleys with seers of prominent castes. In fact, Siddaramaiah, a rationalist who once proclaimed himself as an atheist, has changed his tack - is now vocal about his Hindu identity and has taken to temple darshans.
 

Influence on Voters

A social analyst says, in rural constituencies, followers will blindly cast their votes to a mutt’s decree. “One cannot ignore this. Moreover, the caste divisions are so deep that some seers of a particular caste have identified themselves with leaders or parties.”

A mutt follower in old

Mysuru region insists that a powerful mutt here can make or break the prospects of a candidate. He adds, “Take the case of Varuna constituency, here the Lingayat vote is 50,000 plus. If there is a directive from this powerful seer for a particular caste candidate, then 50 per cent of this community’s vote will go in his or her favour.”

Countering this, N K Mohan Ram, a political watcher says, “Look up at two major assembly elections in 1972 and 1978 when the entire Lingayat Mutt institutions came out in support of Nijalingappa and the Janata Parivar respectively but still Indira Congress and Devaraj Urs swept to power in Karnataka both the times.

Despite the Lingayat minority issue, the mutt’s influence will be marginal but benefitting the Congress. With the sizable emergence of the middle class in the Lingayat community and increasing literacy, the
influence of mutts over their community has been waning.”

Can swing it in their backyard

Karnataka’s hundreds of caste-based mutts have a set of followers but their influence remains restricted to a region. If the Coastal region is dominated by the Ashta Mutts (Brahmin), the Central Karnataka region is by Murugharajendra Mutt, the Siddaganga Mutt and the Sirigere mutt (all Lingayat) while the Old Mysuru region is by Suttur Mutt (Lingayat) and Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt (Vokkaliga). Even the Mumbai-Karnataka region with Tontadarya Mutt, the Kaginele Kanaka Guru Peetha and the Hyderabad-Karnataka region with Gavi Siddeshwara Mutt, the Anubhava Mantapa and Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah have their own set of followers.

Seers want to contest too

Will this election see seers enter the fray? Around six seers of different castes are hoping to get tickets from various parties. The seers who have expressed their interest and desire to contest are Shirur Mutt Lakshmivara Thirtha Swami (Udupi), Sri Shiva Sharana Madara Mutt Madara Chennaiah Swami (Chitradurga), Sri Gurubasava Mahamane Basavananda Swami (Dharwad) and Vajradehi Mutt Rajashekaranand Swami (Dakshina Kannada). All are vying for tickets from BJP. Paramananda Ramarudha Swamy from Bilagi, Bagalkot district, is hoping for a JD(S) ticket while Prabhu Channabasava Swami of Motagi Mutt in Belgavi hopes for a Congress ticket from Athani seat.