BENGALURU: A day after five ministers of the Siddaramaiah cabinet announced their decision to tour the state to evolve public opinion on the demand for separate religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, the Chief Minister tried to play down the development on Wednesday.
“Nobody has submitted a memorandum for declaring Veerashaiva-Lingayats as a separate religion. We will recommend to the Union government to act on it if a formal request is submitted from the community in this regard,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
He also denied there were any political motives behind the ministers going on a state tour to seek the opinion of the community leaders and seers on the demand for a separate religion status.
Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar termed the move as an election gimmick with dangerous consequences.