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Seer accuses Karnataka government of taking 30% cut in grants for mutts
While participating in a rally, Swamiji said Karnataka government doesn’t spare religious mutts as well. “The ruling BJP not only takes a commission from contractors, that it even takes 35% commission from religious seers,” he said.
Prominent Lingayat seer Dingaleshwara Swamiji on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state is taking 30% commission from the religious institutions and mutts for releasing funds for developments.
While participating in a rally, Swamiji said the government doesn’t spare religious mutts as well. “The ruling BJP not only takes a commission from contractors, that it even takes 35% commission from religious seers,” he said.
The seer was participating in a tractor rally organised by senior Congress leader SR Patil.
He alleged that mutts are forced to pay 30% of the funds that are released for development works at the mutts as a commission.
“The officers directly tell us about the commission. If ice cream is granted in New Delhi or Bengaluru, by the time it reaches north Karnataka, only the stick will remain,” he alleged.
Following this statement, Congress MLA Dinesh Gundurao said that if Swamijis are also not spared by the government, who is not affected by the government’s corruption. “As I have always said, in the name of God, the BJP is looting the state and getting the votes of the people, and even in grants which they proudly announce for these mutts they are taking a commission and looting money,” said Gundurao.
“This shows that there is no real commitment to anything. Grabbing power and money is their only criteria, and for that, unfortunately, they are using Hindutva and Hindu religion,” he added.
Reacting to the seer, Karnataka agriculture minister BC Patil said that the seer should have protested before giving a bribe. “He is talking like a Congress worker. Earlier he supported former CM BS Yediyurappa… he has now shown his chameleon nature,” the minister said.
The statement comes as a problem for the BJP, which is already facing criticism over its legislator KS Eshwarappa’s alleged involvement in the death of the contractor. Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, was found dead at a hotel in Udupi on Tuesday, barely two weeks after accusing former rural development and panchayat raj (RDPR) minister KS Eshwarappa of harassing him for a 40% commission to release funds for around ₹4 crore worth of work done.
A day before his body was found, a suicide note was sent by Patil as a WhatsApp message to his associates and a section of the media, holding Eshwarappa responsible. On Friday, the minister was forced to step down from the cabinet and handed in his resignation to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
With polls looming, politicians are queuing up at influential mutts, or Hindu monasteries, whose endorsement or support could help determine the outcome in many constituencies and possibly even the final results. By paying respects, political parties are hoping to win the backing of the mutts’ thousands of followers, who are known to vote en masse. Estimates by historians and sociologists suggest that there are a few hundred such caste.
