BENGALURU: As the separate religion status to Lingayats and Veerashaivas was one of the major factors that adversely affected Congress’ prospects in 2018, community leaders from within the party are trying to help the party overcome the blemish and help win the 2023 Assembly polls.
At the all-India Veershaiva Lingayat Mahasabha convention, slated to be held in Davanagere in the last week of December 2022, a resolution will be passed asking the Centre to grant a separate religion status for both communities together as Veerashaiva-Lingayats. The conference is being held under the presidentship of Mahasabha national president Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, who is a senior Congress leader and Davanagere South MLA.
Former minister MB Patil, who had allegedly tried but failed to get a separate religion status only for Lingayats (excluding Veerashaivas), is also likely to be projected as the community’s big leader at the convention. In 2017-18, when Siddaramaiah was chief minister, the separate religion issue broke out and the communities thought that Shamanur and Patil were trying to divide them.
But at the conference, the two leaders will share the stage to dispel the thinking that they are working at cross purposes, party sources said. “Patil will be our chief guest. His grandfather Shirasangi Lingaraja Desai was the first president of a similar convention held in Dharwad in 1904-05,” said Mahasabha General Secretary Nataraj Sagaranahalli.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will be the chief guest at the event that will be attended by all party leaders from the community. No BJP high command leaders will be invited. “Certainly things will get neutralised for Congress as it is not averse to Veershaiva Lingayats and it is likely to help party candidates in the 2023 assembly polls,” said Prasannakumar, a Congress leader.