JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah said that neither he nor the state government has any role in the demand for an independent religion status for Lingayat and Veerashaiva communities.
Siddaramaiah told reporters here that an independent religion tag for Lingayat is not the government’s stand.
“Members of the Veerashaiva Mahasabha had approached me with a request to recommend to the Union government to declare Veerashaiva-Lingayat an independent faith. I promised to make the recommendation to the Centre if they make a formal request in this regard,” Siddaramaiah said.
Commenting on the Cauvery water row, he said that according to the Supreme Court’s order, the state should release 10 tmcft, 34 tmcft and 50 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu in June, July and August respectively. “Due to deficient rainfall in the state, only 12 tmcft was released so far,” Siddaramaiah said.
“The case is pending before the court and it is not possible to stop the release of water to Tamil Nadu. Due to scarcity of water, the government has asked farmers not to grow
paddy and sugar cane. Water has been released from Krishnaraja Sagara dam to canals to fill the lakes,” the chief minister said.