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CM battles challenges from Lingayat groups
Bengaluru BS Yediyurappa, who was believed to be the tallest leader of the Lingayats, one of the biggest caste groups in the state, is now being bracketed into a representative of one of the sub-sects of the community that could make it harder for him to depend on a group that have so far backed him collectively
Bengaluru BS Yediyurappa, who was believed to be the tallest leader of the Lingayats, one of the biggest caste groups in the state, is now being bracketed into a representative of one of the sub-sects of the community that could make it harder for him to depend on a group that have so far backed him collectively.
The Panchamasali sect, a land-owning farmer group and the biggest sub-sect within the Lingayats are now proposing for one of their own to be considered for a top post, if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) do replace Yediyurappa.
“If by chance there is any replacement (of chief minister), give one of our own an opportunity,” Sri Basava Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swami, the seer of the Kudalasangama Panchamasali Peeta said on Monday.
The seer, among other leaders from the community like Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal), the BJP legislator from Bijapur city, had held demonstrations for better reservation opportunities for the sub-sect. This demand was followed by other dominant communities like Vokkaligas, Kurubas and Valmikis among others to also sought similar changes in reservation status earlier this year.
Mruthyunjaya Swami said that there was dissent brewing within the Yediyurappa administration and cited age-related inability as one of the reasons for the problems within the government and its performance. The seer also threatened to revive the stir for reservation and added that negligence to their earlier demands had resulted in the loss of seats in the April 17 bypolls, threatening to assert themselves politically.
The developments come at a time when Yediyurappa is clinging to his chair as the BJP awaits for an opportunity to strike a deal with the chief minister to step down nearly two years before the state goes to polls in 2023.
The BJP is wary that any harsh action against Yediyurappa could result in a repeat of 2013 when the latters exit brought down the saffron outfit’s only government in southern India.
The rift within the community has led to Yediyurappa being referred to as a as a Banajiga, another sub-sect who are traditionally traders, as a way of emphasizing the distinction.
Though the Lingayats backed him in 2013 but he was successful in bringing down the BJP which he exited, only to rejoin them months after the election.
The BJP at the centre may have an inclination to push for Hindutva as against the caste-dominated political equations in Karnataka, which analysts and experts said, will not be easy.
People aware of the developments said that the chief minister has sought from the central leadership an opportunity to complete his term while also seeking to placate his sons, one of who (BY Raghavendra) is among the probables to be inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet at the centre.
“If the (BJP) high command does want to replace (Yediyurappa) then we also have many of our own who are enthusiastic and experienced. Give us also an opportunity if you are planning a leadership change,” Vijayanand Kashappanavar, ex-MLA and national president of the Akhila Bharatha Lingayata Panchamasali Mahasabha told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
In 2008, Yediyurappa stormed into power after he was denied the top chair by his coalition partner, HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular), as the Lingayat community firmly stood behind a person they believed was wronged by a member of the other dominant community: the Vokkaligas.
“That issue then was Lingayat versus Gowda (Vokkaliga) and this man (Yediyurappa) very successfully converted his personal problem as social and community problem,” said another person who is an expert on the caste, requesting not to be named.
At the heart of such mobilisation are Mathas or monasteries, which are powerful entities in Karnataka and almost all caste-groups now have some presence as the spiritual headquarters of particular communities. Though there are some of the Mathas or their head pontiffs who openly support or endorse political opinions, others do it more tactfully in the shadows, people aware of the workings of such establishments said.
Karnataka’s complex caste-based politics has largely been dominated by Lingayats and Vokkaligas, who together account for majority of the people who became chief ministers so far in the state’s history.
Analysts pointed out that most of the Lingayat chief ministers in the state’s history since it became Karnataka, were Banajigas and possibly just two were Panchamasali.
“In the last 15 years there has been a rift within the Lingayat community which has been created mostly by political leaders,” said a north-Karnataka based analyst, requesting not to be named.
The analyst cited above said that out of the Panchacharya (or the five main seats of the Lingayats), the Panchamasali had asked for one of them to be headed by a member of their sub-sect which was denied, leading them to form one peetha or chair of their own.
Though Basavanna, the 12th century reformer, had wanted a casteless society, there are at least 100 sub-sects within the Lingayat--or the form it has taken--and practiced today, experts said.
There have been attempts to portray Yatnal and Murugesh Nirani, the minister for mines and geology, as possible replacements for Yediyurappa as they belong to the Panchamasali.
“The groups (castes) back leaders not just for being born into these communities but are with those in power. Yediyurappa did not become a leader because he had the backing of the Lingayats but got their support as he became more and more powerful,” a senior leader of the BJP said, requesting not to be named.
However, the leader also said that Yediyurappa was now on “bonus time” as every unwritten rule of the BJP was broken for the 78-year-old since 2018. “This cannot be spun off as injustice as he (Yediyurappa) as the BJP has given him top positions” he said.
