The decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to accord minority status to the Lingayats strikes at the very core of the BJP’s support base.

The Cabinet’s recent decision to bring Lingayats and Veerashaivas — followers of 12th century social reformer Basavanna — under a religion, was later backed by an official government notification that accorded such status under the Karnataka Minorities Commission Act.

However, the benefits of reservation under the new status will be available only after the Centre accepts the recommendation and notifies it. Caught in a bind, the BJP declared the Siddaramaiah government’s decision as part of its efforts to divide Hindus. BJP President Amit Shah visited a slew of Lingayats mutts to convince them against religious minority status. But the party has been unable to gain the backing of the entire community, with some seers reportedly backing separate religious status.

According to sources, Shivamurthy Muruga Sharana of the Bruhanmutt Chitradurga, a prominent Lingayat monk, had supported the separate religion status during Shah’s tour of central Karnataka. This has now put the BJP’s strategists in dilemma. The seer, it is learnt, urged Shah to expedite the declaration of Lingayats as a separate caste, while also according it the minority tag. Since there are a lot of sub-castes among the Lingayats, such a move would even out the differences among them and bring about equality.

However, the BJP’s Karnataka leaders continue to criticise the Congress government. They argue that the new status will only help those running educational institutions, but not the common Lingayat or Veerashaiva.

Shah’s feedback from his Karnataka tour is thus a mixed bag, as the issue of religion status cropped up in most of his visits to Lingayat-Veerashaiva institutions and interactions with religious heads.

Caught unawares by the situation, the BJP is now playing the waiting game, hoping that some kind of consensus emerges in the coming days.

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