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Karnataka govt renames mid-day meal scheme after seer
The announcement was made in the presence of influential Lingayat seers of the Matha and union home minister Amit Shah.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday announced to rename the state’s mid-day meal scheme after late Sri Shivakumara Swamiji of of Siddaganga Matha, minutes after a proposal was made by BY Vijayendra, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit vice president and son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa.
“The mid-day meal programme being run by the state government will bear the name of late Sri Shivakumara Swamiji and action would be taken in this regard,” Bommai said in Tumakuru on the 115th birth anniversary of the seer.
The announcement was made in the presence of influential Lingayat seers of the Matha and Union home minister Amit Shah.
Vijayendra said: “There is a hot mid-day meal programme in which lakhs and crores of children are fed and I request that this hot mid-day meal programme and the hot meal itself be given the name of Sri Sri Shivakumara Swamiji.”
Lingayats are believed to be the single largest caste group in Karnataka and Yediyurappa has enjoyed the community’s support since 2008 when he first became the chief minister and helped instate the BJP’s first government in southern India.
It’s no secret that Yediyurappa nurses hopes of placating his two sons in active politics and the move on Friday not only announces Vijayendra as his political heir but also to be seen as a leader of the Lingayat community.
Despite the BJP’s attempts to move towards Hindu and Hindutva-based politics in the state, leaders like Yediyurappa and others have continued to depend on caste equations in their lengthy careers, keeping a firm grip on the state.
It is believed that the Lingayats back the BJP, the Vokkaligas support the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) and the Congress enjoys the backing of minorities and backward communities. Karnataka is an important state for all three parties.
For the BJP, it is the only presence in southern India and is considered the “gateway to the south” in its long-term plans to penetrate Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Karnataka also acts as the last hope for the revival of Congress as the party continues to dwindle in other states. The JD(S), which is the only party to have allied with the BJP and Congress in the past, is from Karnataka and positions itself as an alternative to both national parties.
Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress president, on Thursday visited the Siddaganga Matha as the party attempts to reach out to a community that can swing results in several constituencies of the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah have in the past made their way to this Matha to seek the blessings of the late seer, who the latter described as “modern day Basavanna” and “walking god”.
Shah said the late seer, who was the head of the influential Matha for more than 88 years, had propagated the ideology of “Anna, Akshar and Ashray” or food, education and shelter.
“This ideology has been adopted by Modi ji and implemented,” Shah said referring to free grains given during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing technical education in regional languages and building homes for 30 million people in the last seven years.
Bommai said: “Those who governed the state have had immense reverence for the Siddaganga Matha. Our government too is devoted to the welfare cause of the mutt. Our government is committed to provide food, education, health care and shelter for the weaker sections. Over ₹60,000 cr has been provided for Sarvodaya (welfare) programmes in the budget. We will work to redress the plight of the people. We will work to seek your blessings. We will seek your love and affection by serving the poor, weaker sections, women and children.”
While Bommai, also from the same community, is trying to thwart challenges to his chair, he is also trying to remain in the good books of the union leadership in the hope of being announced as the CM face of the 2023 assembly election.
Bommai is also accused of trying to please the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, by allegedly giving a free hand to rightwing groups to target Muslims over contentious issues such as hijab, restricting them from taking part in Hindu religious fairs and halal meat, which has been termed as an “economic Jihad”.
