BENGALURU: While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is consolidating his AHINDA(Kannada acronym for minorities, backwards and dalits) vote bank and even trying to lay its hands on BJP’s Veerashaiva-Lingayat vote base, the saffron outfit is leaving no stone draw woo minor sub-castes among the OBCs and dalits.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s younger brother Prahlad Modi has quietly involved himself in consolidating the Ganiga(Teli in north India) community in the state ahead of assembly election. Ganigas are a caste among the OBCs in the state. The community is traditionally engaged in oil extracting vocation.
Prahlad, who was on a visit to Bengaluru participated in function organised by Ganiga Samaj in Nelamangala on Friday. He also participated in Vivekananda Jayanthii celebrattions held at Girinagar and Sri Krishna International School in the city.
Prahlad, who prefers to stay away from the media glare, cancelled his intended interaction with the media without giving any intimation on Friday. The media representatives who arrived at 12 noon at Kumara Krupa Guest House, were disappointed as Prahlad had checked out early in the morning. He he had visited Swamy Narayan Temple at Rajaji Nagar on Thursday night.
M R Rajashekar, General Secretary of Akhila Karnataka Ganiga Samaja, accompanied Prahlad throughout the visit, Speaking to Express, Rajashekar said, “Prahlad Modi will be in the state again on a two-day visit on March 4 and 5. He will have interactions with Ganiga Samaj outfits and leaders as the assembly poll approaches.”
Apart from wooing the community in Karnataka, Prahlad will also participate in a Ganiga Community meeting at Hosur in TN, neighboring Bengaluru, Rajashekar said.Prahlad, who had actively engaged himself in consolidating the Teli (Ganiga) community in favour of BJP during previous Assembly election in Madhya Pradesh, is trying to draw the community towards BJP by trying to instill a sense of pride in the community as they belong to ‘Modi’ community.According to Rajashekar, there are about 45 lakh Ganigas in the state. This includes the Ganiga, sub-caste among the Lingayats. The state will see more frequent visits of Prahlad in coming weeks.