BSY, Shettar are namesake Lingayats, says Rayareddy

 Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy on Thursday targetted senior BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar for not taking a stand on the demand to accord separate religioun status for the Lingayata dharma.

“Yeddyurappa and Shettar are under the stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). They are just namesake Lingayat leaders,” Rayareddy told reporters.

“Yeddyurappa was a signatory to the demand for a separate Veerashaiva-Lingayat religion. Outside, however, he says it is part of the Hindu religion. Will Yeddyurappa be a leader without Hindutva? BJP leaders have become Manuvadis - they don’t have answers for women inequality in the Hindu religion,” Rayareddy charged.

In support

Rayareddy is one of the few Lingayat ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet who are supporting the demand to declare Lingayat dharma as an independent religion.

The minister defended his Cabinet colleagues M B Patil, Eshwar B Khandre, S S Mallikarjun and others when asked why the Congress ministers and leaders were interfering in the religion row.

“Because we were born in the community, we have a say in the matter,” Rayareddy stated.

On the confusion whether Veerashaiva and Lingayats are the same, he said there was a need for the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the Panchapeetha mutts and the independent Virakta mutts to come together and iron out differences.

“Let’s all come together honourably instead of fighting it out on the street,” the minister added.