Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Cabinet’s decision to accept and forward the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee recommendations to the Centre came as a major shock to the political system and has riled up the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), triggering another wave of accusations of playing the religion card for vote banks.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka on Monday decided to ask the Centre to recognise the Lingayats as an independent religion.
While the BJP accused the Congress led state government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of practicing the Britishers’ “divide and rule” policy, BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa went a different route. Being a Lingayat himself, BSY is in a unique dilemma with regards to how he should react to the news as the Lingayats have been the backbone of the BJP in Karnataka for years.
For the time being, he has requested the All-India Veerashaiva Mahasabha to call a meeting to weigh the pros and cons of the recommendation and added that the BJP would stand by whatever they decide.
Karnataka is soon going to enter the election season and each party is trying to win favour with various sections of the society. The ruling state government on March 18, in a major upset, called a meeting of experts to discuss the issue of the Lingayats wanting a separate religion tag. Following the meeting, the State Cabinet forwarded the recommendations of the committee to the Centre for its approval .
