BENGALURU: The differences that have erupted within the Sidaramaiah cabinet over according religious minority tag for the Lingayat community will boomerang on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has said.“This is just the beginning ... just wait and watch. The issue will boomerang on Siddaramaiah who is trying to divide the community for political gains ahead of the assembly election,” he told reporters here on Friday.
He questioned the CM’s real intentions behind his efforts in getting the minority religion status for the Lingayats and a separate state flag. “I have no comments to make if people want a separate flag for the state. But the CM should not have raised the issue just 50 days before the assembly polls. Why didn’t he raise the issue in the last four-and-a-half years. It is clear that his intentions are dubious,” he said.
Meanwhile, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which is opposing the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report recommending religious minority tag for Lingayats, has said there is no change in its stand and extended support to Municipal Administration Minister Eshwar Khandre and Horticultural Minister S S Mallikarjun who were said to have opposed the report during in the Cabinet.
Speaking to TNIE, Khandre said the CM has decided to hold further discussions about the report in the next Cabinet meeting. “I will convey my stand after discussing the issue with the Veerashaiva Mahasabha president,” he said.Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, president of the Mahasabha, told TNIE that there is no change in its stand and that the Mahasabha would protest if the recommendations of the Nagamohan Das report are accepted by the Cabinet.
The CM is expected to hold a meeting with the Veerashaiva-Lingayat ministers in the next few days to evolve at a consensus. Water Resources Minister M B Patil denied media reports about differences in the Cabinet. “There were no arguments or resignation threats during the debate in the Cabinet,” he said.
Separate religion status: HC asks State and Centre to submit response
Bengaluru: The High Court on Friday directed the State and Centre to submit their response to the petitions challenging the constitution of a panel by the Karnataka State Minority Commission to look into the demand of separate religion status for Lingayats. A division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav issued this direction before adjourning the hearing of the petitions to March 15.