HUBLI: Hopes of some influential local Lingayat leaders were dashed as Gurusidda Rajayogindra Mahaswami on Wednesday decided to continue as head of the Moorusavir Mutt Peetha.
The leaders had hoped that Dingaleshwar Swami of Bale Hosur Mutt would take charge. Though the confusion over who will head the mutt has ended, members of the High-level Committee (HLC) are embarrassed as the seer spelt out his decision at Tiptur instead of Hubli.
Rumours were rife till Tuesday that Dingaleshwar Swami would take charge.
According to a leader following the developments, Gurusidda Rajayogindra Mahaswami had expressed desire to quit the Peetha before the HLC as he was disillusioned with recent developments in the Mutt administration. He had refused to stay despite HLC members’ insistence.
A dispute over the choice of a successor added fuel to the controversy. Some did not agree with what they called the “unilateral decision” of Gurusiddha Rajayogindra Swami. They wanted Mallikarjuna Swami of Ghataprabha Kempayyanaswami Mutt to succeed him.
The issue over the successor is one of the reasons why the seer changed his mind, sources said.
Reacting to the development, HLC member Basavaraj Horatti said the seer had earlier turned down their request not to quit, citing health reasons.
“I don’t know what made him change his mind all of a sudden and why he announced it at Tiptur Mutt. He could have cleared the confusion by revealing it at Hubli,” he said.
However, some devotees believe that Rudramuni Swami of Tiptur Mutt, who fought a court battle for a decade to head the mutt, is behind Gurusidda Rajayogindra Swami’s change of mind. The latter was taken to Tiptur Mutt from Hangal Kumaraswami Mutt and might have been forced to continue as the head, highly-placed sources said.
Senior BJP leader Jagadish Shettar, an HLC member said, “The seer is free to take any decision. The committee has no role to play in this.”