Panchamsali reach Bengaluru outskirts demanding OBC quota, rally on Sunday

BENGALURU: Panchamsali seers and protesters, seeking 2A status for the community, have reached Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and are likely to enter the city in the next two days. They plan to hold a massive convention at Palace Grounds on February 21 (Sunday). About 10 lakh people are scheduled to attend the convention, Panchamsali Swami Vachanananda said. He, along with Jaya Mrutunjaya Swami, are leading the march from Koodalasangama.

Asked about their next move, he told The New Indian Express, “We will not disclose our plans but will take a decision and inform everyone on February 21.’’ Some reports indicated that they may intensify their agitation after the Sunday convention.Putting forward their argument, Vachanananda Swami said when 34 sub-sects within the Lingayat community have been given reservation under 2A, why not the Panchamsalis — Gouli Lingayats from the coast, Diksha Lingayats in Kalyan Karnataka, and Male Gowdar Lingayats in the Malnad have not got 2A status.

“We raised it in 2003, when there was a demand to accord OBC to the entire Lingayat community,” he said. The Union government had then asked community leaders to get a gazette notification under 2A category to be included in OBC, but that has not yet happened.