M B Patil takes Shamanur head-on over Lingayat issue

A war of words has erupted between senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa and Water Resources Minister M B Patil on the Lingayat faith controversy.

Patil on Saturday took exception to Shivashankarappa calling him names. “Personally, he’s like a father to me. But because of old age, he’s been publicly targetting me repeatedly. Earlier, he called me a baccha (child) and now he says I’m crazy,” Patil said in a statement.

This is not the first time the two have clashed. Patil is campaigning for the Lingayat faith to be declared as a minority religion. Shivashankarappa, who heads the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, argues that Veerashaiva-Lingayat should be a religion in itself as the two are the same.

He urged Shivashankarappa to take lessons on the Lingayat faith from Taralabalu Mutt seer Shivamurthy Shivacharya. “Shivashankarappa should have understood the difference between Veerashaiva and Lingayat after becoming the Mahasabha president.”

On providing protection to retired IAS officer S M Jaamdar, Patil said Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has directed the police to provide security to Jaamdar, who is an active member of the Lingayat religion campaign.

Patil clarified that he had not sought any protection. “Some seers, on behalf of Shivashankarappa, say Basavaraj Horatti (JD-S leader and Lingayat campaigner) and I will face destruction. Shivashankarappa has to explain what destruction means,” Patil stated.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president S R Patil said the rift between Shivashankarappa and Patil was an ideological one and that it will not affect the party's image in the run-up the Assembly elections.

However, he said Lingayat is a separate, independent religion that 12th century social reformer Basavanna started for social equality. “I hail from Basavanna’s district (Bagalkot),” he said. “Shamanur and Patil may be warring ideologically. That should not be misunderstood.”