Karnataka Lingayats upset as berth in Modi Cabinet remains elusive

There is mounting anger in the influential Lingayat community in Karnataka that it has been again denied a Union Cabinet berth by Prime Minister Narendra Modi though it has remained loyal to the BJP for decades.

Frustrated Lingayat leaders are not buying the various arguments given by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on the need for the ruling party to take everyone on board as part of its social engineering project.

The Karnataka BJP says Modi has attempted a caste and regional balance in the Union ministry, retaining experienced ministers from Karnataka, such as Nirmala Sitharaman, Pralhad Joshi and Shobha Karandlaje.

Lingayats in Cabinet

A BJP leader pointed out that Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Kumaraswamy has been accommodated in the Cabinet as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises while V Somanna, a prominent Lingayat leader, has been named the Minister of State (MoS) for Jal Shakti.

Also, three Lingayats – BS Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraja Bommai – have headed the state government from 2008 to 2023.

“When the community got the opportunity to head the BJP government in the state, what is the need for the Central leadership to offer Cabinet berths to that community?” asked the leader. The BJP believes in strong social engineering, "let other communities get their due share”, he argued.

Unhappy lot

But the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community seems unconvinced by the arguments considering the massive support it has extended to the BJP for the past three decades.

Its leaders say the Lingayats supported the BJP, especially Yediyurappa, who led the party in the recent Lok Sabha polls from the front, despite his son BY Vijayendra being the Karnataka BJP president.

“The party high command belittled the contribution of the Lingayat community in winning 17 of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies,” said a senior Lingayat leader of BJP.

The community appears to be unable to understand why the BJP high command is sidelining its leaders while accommodating Pralhad Joshi and Nirmala Sitharaman, who represent communities that are not at all politically influential in the state.

RSS pressure?

“Surprisingly, though V Somanna joined the Union Council of Ministers as MoS, not even a single Lingayat leader got a Cabinet berth. I don’t think the Central leadership considered two former chief ministers, Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belagavi), as potential Cabinet ministers. Or, the Central leaders succumbed to the pressure of the RSS, which is remote-controlling the BJP leadership in the country,” a BJP leader, who doesn't have any connection with the RSS and joined the BJP for personal reasons last year, told The Federal.

Lingayats are found predominantly in Karnataka, especially in the state’s north and central regions. They are said to make 6-7 per cent of Maharashtra’s population and around 16 per cent of Karnataka's population. But a Union Cabinet berth has been eluding the community for the past three decades.

Veteran Lingayat leader M Veerendra Patil got a Cabinet berth when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers, heading Congress governments at the Centre. MS Gurupadaswamy was inducted as a Cabinet minister in the VP Singh-led National Front coalition government in 1989. SR Bommai (father of Basavaraj Bommai) became a Cabinet minister in the United Front coalition government of Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral.

Ministers of State

In recent years, Lingayat leaders including Basanagauda Patil Yatnal, GM Siddeshwara, Suresh Angadi, Bhagwant Khooba and now Somanna have had to be content with an MoS rank.

Once Congress influence began to wane in Karnataka, the Lingayats backed Ramakrishna Hegde. Later, the community leaned towards the BJP after Yediyurappa became its head.

The unceremonious removal of Veerendra Patil from the Chief Minister post by the Congress in 1990 was one of the reasons the Lingayats shifted allegiance to the BJP. Both Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have referred to this incident in an effort to blunt Congress efforts to woo Lingayats.

“In the central and northern parts of Karnataka, the Lingayats will decide the prospects of candidates of political parties. North Karnataka is considered a bastion of the community. So, its support to the BJP is taken for granted,” said Jagadish Patil, a political analyst and Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha (JLM) member.

Dalits and OBCs

But Dalit and Other Backward Class (OBC) leaders say they too are discriminated against by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Dalit leaders including Ramesh Jigajinagi and A Narayanaswamy have been named MoS in the Modi government.

“No leaders are questioning the injustice done to the Dalits and OBCs because they are worried about their political future if they do so,” said a Dalit leader with the BJP.

'Curse for Lingayats'

JLM general secretary Shivanand Jamdar attributes the sidelining of Lingayats by Modi to the RSS’ aim to suppress the non-Vedic past of Lingayatism and curbing the Lingayat movement to get independent religion status.

“It is a curse for Lingayats. In an attempt to sideline Yediyurappa, the RSS, with the support of BL Santosh and Pralhad Joshi, tried to weaken Lingayat leaders. Lingayats are upset with the discrimination meted out to the community – no Union Cabinet berth for three NDA tenures, including the present one.

“Lingayats have understood the game plan of the BJP and are unhappy,” he said.

Separate religion status

Meanwhile, prominent Lingayat seers are asking the community to intensify the movement demanding independent religion status for Lingayatism.

Last Friday, Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swamiji said it was time to resume the movement. “Lingayat religion is casteless and anyone can embrace it,” he said.

At the same time, the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha wants community members to write 'Veerashaiva' or 'Lingayat' in the religion column of the Census and their sects in the caste category.

The national executive of the JLM met in Koppal on Sunday and decided to intensify efforts to get an independent religion tag for Lingayatism.