From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Mar 14: The much-hyped meeting of the State Cabinet, scheduled to be held on Wednesday to take a decision on according separate minority “religious” tag for Lingayats has been deferred to next week.
According to informed sources, the postponement of the meeting is because the Siddaramaiah regime is unable to evolve a consensus on the matter between two communities - Verashaivas and Lingayats.
The two communities, which are predominant in the northern Karnataka region and are crucial for the electoral prospects of both the ruling Congress and BJP, are at loggerheads on the State Government’s move on according minority “religious” tag for Lingayats.
Sources in State secretariat indicated that the State Cabinet meeting was deferred as by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as he was holding a day-long meeting with Congress Election Committee members at a resort near Devanahalli on the outskirts of the City for shortlisting candidates for forthcoming assembly elections.
However, it is common knowledge that a shadow-boxing between Ministers belonging to two communities in the last Cabinet meeting forcedthe chief minister Siddramaiah to postpone the decision.
Municipal Administration minister Eshwar Khandre and Horticulture Mnister S S Mallikarjun, who have been demanding minority “religious” for Lingayat/Veerashaiva community have been opposing the tag only for the Lingyat community.
However, Ministers such as Vinay Kulakarni, M B Patil and Basavaraj Rayareddy have been strongly fighting to accept the report of Nagmohan Das Commision, which recommended the tag for Lingayats.
Siddaramaiah, who was confident on Tuesday of evolving a consensus and taking a final decision at the cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday, was on the back foot as a meeting of heads of various mutts in Bagalkot threatened to launch a state-wide protest if the Nagmohan Das report is accepted.
Veerahsaivas under the leadership of many seers staged a huge protest in Davanagere and other parts of the state on Wednesday and warned the Siddaramaiah government of serious consequences if it "tried to divide the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community."
All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha President Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, a senior Congress leader, has reiterated his opposition to accord separate religion status for Lingayats.
The Chief Minister deferred the meeting just a few hours before it was to start considering the Veerahsaiva backlash from Veerashaiva community in the forthcoming assembly election.
Siddaramaiah is expected to hold a meeting of both Lingayat and Veerashaiva leaders in the next few days before taking up the issue in the cabinet.
The Seers under the leadership of Kashipeetha seer Chandrashekara Shivacharya Swami also submitted a memorandum to Siddaramaiah in this regard.
Shivacharya Swami accused ministers M B Patil and Vinay Kulkarni of trying to divide the Veerashaiva--Lingayat communiuty just for electoral gains. Dingaleshwara Swami of Balehosur said they would launch a legal battle against those Veerashaiva Mutt heads who are supporting the demand for a separate Lingayat religion.
The seers want Siddaramaiah government to consider Veerashaiva Lingayts as one community and convene a meeting of the community leaders before taking any decision on Nagmohan Das report.