Siddaramaiah to face Lingayat row at cabinet meet on Monday

Bengaluru: Despite coming under pressure from various quarters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is determined to take a decision on the Lingayat religion row. On March 19^th, there will be discussion before the Cabinet on the expert committee report, which has recommended ‘religious minority’ status to Lingayats.

Siddaramaiah has two options to choose from when this matter comes up in the cabinet, say sources close to chief minister. One option is to recommend the Centre to accord ‘religious minority’ status to Lingayats according to constitution Articles 29 and 30. Lingayat educational institutions will be benefitted by this.

The Chief Minister’s other option is to ask the Centre’s court to accord ‘religious minority’ status to Lingayats as per the recommendation of the committee or to Veerashaiva-Lingayats as demanded by the Veerashaiva camp.

As of now, the cabinet is split between ministers taking either Lingayat or Veerashaiva side. The committee’s report has been opposed by the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha and Veerashaiva Mutt seers and Lingayat sers demand for a separate religious status to their faith. Amidst this, other minority community leaders within the party are raising concerns fearing the accordance of ‘minority’ status to Lingayats would affect their interests.

“The best solution is to make a recommendation to the centre, as this issue has reached to the point of no return. Limiting the minority status to Lingayats according to Articles 29 and 30 of the constitution will also address the concerns raised by minority leaders with regard to the effects on their reservation and economic benefits”, said a source.

After a delegation of Veerashaiva seers petitioned Siddaramaiah, he may recommend both Lingayat and Veerashaiva-Lingayat for the ‘minority’ tag.

Siddaramaiah has been warned by Veerashaiva pontiffs representing the Guru, Virakta and Sharana traditions that the Congress will face severe protests if the government decides to recommend ‘religious minority’ status for Lingayats.