BENGALURU: Post Gujarat, parties have shifted their focus to Karnataka , where the Lingayat movement for separate religion status is likely to become one of the deciding factors at the hustings next year.The deep divide within the community is being looked at in the same manner as the Patidar agitation in Gujarat , that helped the Congress make inroads into Saurashtra. Political insiders claimed that BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is said to have told his close associates that the party failed to capitalize on the Lingayats’ demand, and was missing an opportunity to keep its vote bank intact.Now, with the Congress having usurped the mantle of backing the Lingayat community for a separate religion tag, there’s a dash to the finish line by the BJP to avoid further damage to the unity within the community, that has favoured the saffron party time and again. Political analysts, referring to the Parivarthana rally of Yeddyurappa, claimed the effect is minimal at public events and much is being made of the entire controversy.According to sources, the BJP is trying to project Yeddyurappa as the tallest and most credible leader of the community, and discredit Congress ministers like M B Patil and Vinay Kulkarni for their past gaffes, attributing a contradictory statement to that of the community pontiff, Shivakumar swamiji of Siddaganga mutt.Yeddyurappa said on Monday that the Lingayat agitation and Patidar movement are completely different. “There’s nothing similar between the Patidar movement and the Lingayats’ demand, and we’ll stand by the statements of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha (AIVM) and Siddaganga seer,” he said.However, S M Jaamdar, former bureaucrat and convener of the Lingayats’ association which is spearheading the campaign, felt their movement may go the Patidar agitation way. “It all depends on which political parties support the demand. While the Congress state leadership has publicly backed us, there’s a large participation of BJP workers at the ground level. The Lingayat movement was never meant to become a political agitation. But, with elections around the corner and the BJP going with the statements of the AIVM and the seer, which we opposed, the community may seek to shift allegiance. At the other end, if the BJP reaches a consensus with the Congress on the issue, it will die down as a cultural and religious issue,” he said.Jaamdar said the next two months will be crucial, with the state government referring the matter to the Minorities’ Commission; this will earn the goodwill of the community members if they are given certain reservation benefits.According to JD(S) leader and MLC Basavaraj Horatti, who has extended his support to the movement, his party has not given any indication of using the issue to its political advantage. The JD(S) has traditionally been a Vokkaliga-backed party.