BJP will make stance on Lingayat issue clear after polls, says Amit Shah

"They (Siddaramaiah government) want to polarise Lingayat votes but the community is aware of it,” Shah claimed.

news Karnataka 2018

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will wait till the elections are over in Karnataka before making its stance public, on the state government's decision to recommend a separate religion status to Lingayats.

The party's national president Amit Shah, while taking questions from reporters in Mysuru on Saturday, said that any comment on the issue of minority tag for Lingayats would have a bearing on the polls.

“This is a strategy to stop Yeddyurappa ji from becoming the Karnataka chief minister. They (Siddaramaiah government) want to polarise Lingayat votes but the community is aware of it. BJP will make its stance clear after polls,” Shah was quoted as saying.

Shah's statements come after he met several seers of Lingayat mutts who had either welcomed the Cabinet's decision or have remained neutral about it. The BJP chief is now set to participate in a meeting of Veerashaiva seers in Bagalkot as part of his tour of the Bombay-Karnataka region.

He will also be visiting Shivayoga Mandir in Badami taluk which was established by Hanagal Kumaraswami who set up the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which stands opposed to the Cabinet decision on recommending a separate religion status to "Lingayats and Veerashaiva-Lingayats (followers of Basava Tatva)".

The Shivayoga temple has previously been the meeting place of Veerashaiva seers who have opposed the Cabinet decision. Few seers including Sri Veera Someshwara Shivacharya Swami of Rambhapuri Peetha have already given a call to 'teach the Congress a lesson' in the next Assembly election, according to reports.

The state is set to go to polls on May 12 across the state for 224 seats. The Election Commission has put the model code of conduct in place, and said that the counting of votes will take place on May 15.

Also Read: Lingayat seer asks BJP to support K’taka govt’s move to grant minority status