Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 19: On Sunday March 18, a delegation of over 60 spiritual heads from different areas in the state met chief minister, Siddaramaiah, and handed over a memorandum to him, urging him to recommend to the centre to accord the status of separate religion to Lingayat.

The delegation of Swamijis met the chief minister in his home office, 'Krishna'. They discussed the recommendation made by the committee presided over by Justice Nagamohan Das, and asked the chief minister to recommend to the centre on the lines of the findings of the committee.

The delegation had over 60 spiritual heads including Basava Mrityunjaya Swamiji of Tontadarya Math in Gadag, Murugharajendra Swamiji, and Mathe Mahadevi. On this occasion, they also draped a shawl around Siddaramaiah and garlanded him.

It may be recalled that various heads of Veerashaiva Maths had met the chief minister recently to pressurize him not to send recommendation on the above lines to the centre. They had warned of taking to streets against the government if their request was overlooked.

The cabinet meeting being held today at Bengaluru is expected to take up this issue. As the chief minister is in a fix on the issue after initially supporting party leaders over creation of Lingayat religion, it would be interesting to see what decision will emerge out of this meeting. Some of the Congress leaders will be unhappy and opposed to the decision, either for or against, if and when taken by the cabinet.