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Basanagouda Patil Yatnal acting as B Team of Congress, say 2 Karnataka ministers
Two Karnataka ministers, CC Patil and Murugesh Nirani, who belong to the sub-sect of the Lingayat community, hit out at the backers of an ongoing campaign by Panchamasalis for 2A category reservation status
Two senior ministers of the Karnataka government on Monday hit out at the backers of an ongoing campaign by the Panchamasalis, a sub-sect of the Lingayat community, for 2A category reservation status that would entitle them to 15% reservation in government jobs and college seats, saying they wanted to advance their own political ambitions.
The main target of CC Patil and Murugesh Nirani was Basanagouda Ramanagouda Patil Yatnal, who is a legislator of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a former Congress legislator.
“The campaign has been used for selfish reasons by some people and this is something that we do not agree with such statements or attacks. The rally was held for inclusion into 2A {category reservation status} and these people are misusing it for their own selfish reasons,” Patil, a senior minister in the BS Yediyurappa-led government, said.
“Some people have kept the seer (Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamy) under their grip and misusing the forum,” he added.
The ministers, who both belong to the sub-sect of the Lingayat community, lashed out at the way the agitation was being taken forward.
Nirani said Yatnal was behaving like a member of the B Team of the Congress.
The statements come a day after Patil had stormed off the stage after Yatnal had remarked that both ministers should threaten the chief minister that they would resign and get him to cede the Panchamasali community’s demands.
Increasing calls for reservations by several dominant and politically influential communities has made life harder for the 77-year-old chief minister who will turn a year older later this week.
Already trying to manage simmering dissent within his government and party, the chief minister is facing attacks from the opposition over the poor state of finances, reduction of revenue inflows from the Centre and the Cauvery river water row.
The ministers said that Yatnal and Kashappanavar had ‘hijacked’ the agitation by the Panchamasali seers.
Nirani even said that Kudalasangama math pontiff Basava Jayamruthyunjaya Swamy was being misguided by Yatnal and Kashappanavar.
“What was the need for the seer to announce Kashappanavar as president of Akhila Bharata Lingayat Panchamasali Mahasabha when such a decision was not taken by the rightful body of the community. The seer has no right to take such a decision,” Nirani said.
In Karnataka’s caste-influenced politics, it is very rare to see political leaders criticise influential pontiffs in public.
The seer, who has continued his agitation in Bengaluru, has demanded that they be given a timeline by when the community can expect an announcement conceding its demand for 2A category reservation status.
“The main reason for the delay is that the chief minister did not take us seriously from the beginning,” Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami said.
He said that the government should give an exact time frame of the process and the community leaders would take a call based on these assurances.
Kashappanavar has also hit back, calling the minister’s two-faced and without the will to fight for the cause of the community.
Yatnal could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Yediyurappa on Monday said the government would take strong measures to protect the state’s interests.
“Karnataka will not allow a single drop of excess water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu,” the chief minister said on Monday.
The statements came a day after Tamil Nadu laid the foundation for the first phase of the ₹14,400 crore Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river interlinking project, which aims to divert around 6,000 cubic feet water to drier areas in southern districts.
The Karnataka government said it will hold a meeting with all parties to discuss the issue.
