KESTUR VASUKI n
In a major embarrassment to the Congress, party’s strongman and Karnataka Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar, who cherishes the ambition to become Chief Minister, has admitted that it was a grave mistake by the Congress to have interfered in the Lingayat issue in the run-up to the State Assembly elections in 2018.
The Congress government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had appointed an expert committee to study proposals by Lingayat and Veerashaiva groups who were eager to dissociate themselves from Hinduism and become a minority religion. The Congress then as part of a strategy divided the Lingayat community which supports the BJP as Lingayat and Veerashaivas. The community which constitutes over 19 per cent of the State population plays a decisive role in Karnataka politics. The Congress lost because of this miscalculation and the first ever public admission by Shivakumar is an embarrassment ahead of by polls and 2019 general elections.
He said, "Our party has made a big mistake in this state. I don't deny it. I always believed, no Government should interfere in matters of religion and caste. It was a crime committed by our Government. Many ministers, leaders spoke about the issue but the verdict of the people in the election is proof that Governments should not interfere in these matters. If our Government has made a mistake, we ask you for forgiveness".
He was speaking at the Dasara Sammelan of the Rambhapuri Seer Veera Someshwara Shivacharya Swami in Gadag, in North Karnataka , on Thursday and the seer had opposed the Government(Siddaramaiah led Congress Government ) move to divide the Lingayat community.
The admission just five months after the assembly elections which led to the route of Congress and made the century old party to compromise with the regional party JDs to form a collation Government is going to have a political repercussion in the State. It is history now that HD Kumaraswamy of the JDs with just 34 seats in the 224 assembly seats formed the Government to keep the BJP led by BS Yeddyurappa a Lingayat strongman with 104 seats away from capturing power.
The run up to the Assembly Elections in May saw several Congress leaders bring up the issue of recommending Lingayats as a separate religion. Congress President Rahul Gandhi turned to Basavanna, the 12th century philosopher who founded the Lingayat as a new religion to woo voters. He started quoting Basavanna and went to many mutts and temples to appease the lingayats. Rahul Gandhi also supported the move to divide the community which backfired.
Siddaramaiah used his three senior Ministers who were part of the Lingayat movement for separate religion lost in their constituencies while CM Siddaramaiah managed to scrape through with a win in Badami constituency by 1,696 votes. Siddaramaiah lost to JD(S) candidate GT Deve Gowda in the other seat he contested from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district. The Lingayats had seen the Congress' move as a ploy to divide the Hindu religion. The RSS and BJP strongly opposed this move and BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi used this as a weapon to fight Rahul Gandhi and the congress.
In the Congress circles run up to by polls and general elections are maintaining a stoic salience over the issue and many feel that it might be part of a course correction to find a new strategy in the ensuing elections.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a gathering in Bidar, one of the powerful centres of Lingayat agitation, after the elections, did not mention Basavanna in his speech. Now, Shivakumar's admission appears to be the new found strategy to take on BJP and Modi – Shah Combine. Many in the Congress say that this would now become a potent weapon in the hands of BJP which is hell bent on re capturing Karnataka as the gate way to the south.
Lingayats are followers of 12 the century social reformer Basavanna who preached against the prevalent caste system in Hinduism. There are also Veerashaivas who follow the teachings of Sri Renukacharya, who believed in Vedas, puranas and the caste system. Veerashaivas and Lingayats, who both worship Shiva, have always been considered one and the same. But there are some who contend they are different. They argue that Veerashaivas are a Shiva-sect of Hinduism, while the Lingayats must be deemed to belong to a different religion. BJP had cautiously kept away from this controversy and always attacked the congress and Siddaramaiah Government of dividing the society to draw political mileage ahead of the last Assembly elections.