BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stated that he holds no personal position on the demand for separate religion status for the Lingayat community. This clarification comes amid criticism from the opposition BJP, which has accused the government of attempting to divide Hindu society.
Speaking to reporters in Koppal on Monday, Siddaramaiah said, “I have no stand. The stand of the people is my stand. We will write what they (people from the Lingayat community) say their religion is, during the survey,” referring to the ongoing caste census in the state.
His remarks followed the 'Basava Culture Campaign-2025', organised by the "Lingayat Matadeeshara Okkoota" (Federation of Lingayat Seers), which concluded with resolutions including a push for raising awareness about separate religious recognition for Lingayats.
Responding to questions on the renewed debate, Siddaramaiah said the issue has "always remained", and noted that "some Virakta math swamijis are demanding it".
Reacting to these developments, Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra, without directly naming the CM, criticised the revival of the demand and accused “some forces” of trying to divide Hindu society. “We need to protect the Hindu religion amid attempts to divide it. I don't understand why the Chief Minister is in such a hurry,” he said, adding that earlier efforts had failed and would continue to fail in the future.
Resentment has surfaced over attempts to distinguish between Lingayats and Veerashaivas. The community, with deep roots in the 12th-century social reform movement led by Basaveshwara, has a strong presence in northern Karnataka.
Controversy also brewed over the exclusion of Veerashaiva seers and members of the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha – the apex body of the community – from Sunday’s event attended by Siddaramaiah and several Lingayat ministers including M B Patil, Sharan Prakash Patil and Laxmi Hebbalkar.
Minister Eshwar Khandre, affiliated with the Mahasabha, reiterated that Lingayats and Veerashaivas are synonymous. “Several stalwarts of the community, including the late Shivakumara Swami, concluded that Veerashaiva and Lingayats are the same,” he said. Khandre added that the Mahasabha would continue to push for a separate religion status for Veerashaiva-Lingayats, similar to what has been granted to Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.
Meanwhile, Minister M B Patil maintained a nuanced position: “We are Indians first. Geographically, we are all Hindus. But Lingayats are a religion like other Indic religions, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.” When asked about the exclusion of the Mahasabha from the event, he explained, “The event was organised by the federation of Lingayat seers. They invited only those firmly aligned with Basavanna and his philosophy.”
Patil also observed that Veerashaivas have moved “halfway” by now supporting the demand for a separate religion status.
The issue of religious identity is politically sensitive in Karnataka. In 2018, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government's recommendation to the Centre to grant religious minority status to Lingayats was widely believed to have contributed to the party's electoral losses, particularly in Lingayat-dominated regions. Many Congress leaders involved in the movement were defeated at the polls.
The divide within the community persists: while the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha asserts that Veerashaivas and Lingayats are the same and seeks minority status for both, another faction argues that Veerashaivas are one of the seven Shaiva sects, firmly within Hinduism, and that only Lingayats merit separate religious recognition.
