Karnataka polls: Parties pull out all the stops to woo Lingayat vote

BENGALURU: The Lingayat community has been in the news this poll season, especially in the final stage of campaigning as parties pulled out the sentiment card to draw community voters to their side. But voters of the politically dominant community are keeping cards close to their chest despite recent developments.

Also See: Karnatka Election 2023 Live

Veerashaiva-Lingayats are largely seen as supporters of BJP, but several developments in the run-up to elections appeared to sour that relationship, giving Congress an opportunity to lay claim to the vote bank. Even JD(S), which is seen as a Vokkaliga party, is hoping to take advantage of the perceived split in opinion of the community between BJP and Congress.

“The election season actually began with the focus on Vokkaligas as BJP tried to make inroads into the Vokkaliga belt, where JD(S) and Congress are the main contenders,” said KA Tippeswamy, convener of the JD(S) poll campaign. “But as the campaign progressed, the focus shifted to Lingayats for obvious reasons. The community now holds the key. ”

While Congress is hoping to cash in on the narrative that Lingayats were humiliated by BJP, which led to an exodus of community leaders like Jagadish Shettar, a news report created a flutter as it quoted a top BJP functionary as saying the governing party does not need Lingayat votes.

The saffron party claims the report is fake. Yogendra H, convenor of the BJP legal cell, said his party has filed a police complaint against miscreants and claimed a person was arrested.

But the development appears to have alarmed BJP. Also, an organisation called ‘Lingayat Forum’ urged the community to oppose BJP and vote for Congress instead. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai described the organisation as a “fictional outfit”, while former chief minister BS Yediyurappa said it was a Congress ploy to instigate Lingayats against BJP.

“The way they reacted shows BJP is jittery,” said state Congress president DK Shivakumar. “Apart from treating Lingayats as a vote bank and taking them for granted, it humiliated community leaders. And now BJP has realised that the community will punish it in these elections. ”

While Congress claims the loyalty of Lingayats has shifted from BJP to its side,Shivakumar’s assertion in a widely viewed video conversation with Siddaramaiah that Lingayat pontiffs have expressed solidarity with Congress has only added fuel to the fire.

“It is not just about BJP ill-treating its Lingayat functionaries but also its deception on the issue of providing reservation to the community,” said Congress campaign committee chairman MB Patil. “Instead of addressing the Panchamasali Lingayat community’s demand for 2A category reservation, the government has messed up the reservation matrix. This will cost BJP dearly. ”

BJP functionaries, however, brushed these assertions aside, saying the support of Lingayats for their party is intact. “Congress is so desperate that it is spreading fake news. Lingayats will back us as they did before,” said BJP state general secretary Mahesh Tenginakai, who is the BJP candidate against Shettar in HubballiDharwad Central.

MASSIVE CHUNK

Veerashaiva-Lingayats account for an estimated 14% of the 5.3 crore electorate — the second largest voter chunk after SCs (17%). Lingayat votes are decisive in about 90 seats. In the outgoing aasembly BJP has 40 Lingayat MLAs. Congress and JD(S) have 13 and three respectively. BJP has now fielded 63 Lingayat candidates, while Congress has fielded 46. Interestingly, JD(S) has the second-highest number of Lingayat candidates at 49.

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