Securing vote bank: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to meet Dalit religious heads in Karnataka

The Dalit religious head wields influence among sections of the SC left community, and sources said that keeping the community in good humour ahead of the polls is part of Bhagwat's agenda.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (Photo | PTI)
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (Photo | PTI)

BENGALURU: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's scheduled visit to Sri Madara Channayya Swamiji at Chitradurga on July 11 ahead of RSS' two-day 'Chintan Manthan' meeting has evoked curiosity ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

The Dalit religious head wields influence among sections of the SC left community, and sources said that keeping the community in good humour ahead of the polls is part of Bhagwat's agenda.

He will be accompanied by the BJP leaders including the Minister of State for social justice A Narayanaswamy. He is also likely to stay back at the Gurupeetha and hold deliberations with the Dalit religious leaders who share a good relationship with Sri Madara Channayya.

Swamiji took part in the ‘Shilanyas’ laid for the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya as he was among religious heads invited from the state. Interestingly, he was detached from the issues raised by the Congress as he did not take part in a huge rally to protest against the textbook revision at Freedom Park in Bengaluru recently.

"I was not invited for that event and so did not take part. I had invited Bhagwat to visit our Gurupeeth sometime back," he told The New Indian Express. The leader of the community Pavagada Sriram told The New Indian Express that Swamiji who has sway over the community is among one of the religious heads the BJP and RSS have high regards for.

In 2013, the community turned averse as the BJP government headed by the then CM Jagadish Shettar did not implement the recommendations of the Justice Sadashiva committee to ensure the classification of SC quota.

As the Siddaramaiah-led regime also failed, the community reportedly leaned towards the BJP with the party winning more seats in 2018 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The issue is likely to be raked up ahead of the 2023 polls and both BJP and RSS are likely to be cautious and meeting the Dalit religious heads is one of the strategy, sources said.

“The RSS chief instead of doing all these gimmicks should fight the polls. He should reply to the 40 per cent commission allegation against the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government and whether the RSS is also receiving those cuts,” Leader of opposition in the Council BK Hariprasad said.

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