Veerashaiva Lingayat leaders meet Congress brass, seek tickets in Karnataka Assembly polls

BENGALURU: A delegation of Congress leaders from the Veerashaiva Lingayat community, led by Veerashaiva Mahasabha president Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, called on AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge and KPCC president D K Shivakumar here on Thursday evening, and put forth a proposal to issue party tickets to as many as 68 aspirants from the community, in the upcoming assembly polls.

With former CM BS Yediyurappa no longer in the forefront as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, community leaders from the Congress are apparently trying to make the most of it by winning more seats for the party, and pushing one of their leaders for the chief minister’s post, according to sources.

“Yediyurappa seeking the community’s votes as CM candidate is different from seeking it for the party,” remarked a Congress leader, hoping that this factor works in favour of the Congress, but added that it also depends on how things pan out. The delegation included former MLA Vinay Kulkarni, veteran leader Allum Veerbhadrappa, and former deputy mayor of Bengaluru C S Puttaraju, who presented the candidate shortlist. “This time, we have not restricted ourselves to North Karnataka, as the community has considerable votes even in Old Mysuru region, including Chikkamagaluru district,” Veerabhadappa told The New Indian Express.

The assembly constituencies of Chikkamagaluru, Kadur and Tarikere can be won by fielding the community’s leaders, whereas in Arasikere the Congress may back incumbent MLA K M Shivalinge Gowda of the JDS, as he is looking to switch to the grand old party.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had fielded 43 community members, of whom 16 won, clocking a success rate of 37 per cent, despite the Congress regime facing anti-incumbency. The issue of separate religious status, promoted by then chief minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleague M B Patil, was also a factor.

By and large, members of the community, including leaders in the BJP, had alleged that the then government was attempting to divide the community by promising separate status. This backfired on Congress, and this time, the party has decided not to make it a poll plank. “It will not be part of the party’s manifesto. We as a community will take a call collectively on the issue,” clarified Patil.