Lingayat leaders hold meeting for accurate community count in survey

Bengaluru: Ahead of the socio-educational survey scheduled to begin on September 20, over 50 Lingayat MLAs cutting across party lines, along with top community leaders, met under the leadership of Forest Minister Eshwar B. Khandre on Friday. 

The meeting resolved to back the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha’s initiative to ensure an accurate count of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community in the upcoming survey.

The high-level meeting witnessed the participation of prominent Lingayat figures, including BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and ministers M B Patil, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Sharan Prakash Patil, S S Mallikarjun and Shivananad Patil, along with Mahasabha leaders Shankar Bidari and retired Justice Subhash Adi.

The leaders resolved to form a high-level committee to raise public awareness and to consult with religious heads (mathadhipatis) to guide community members on how to identify themselves in the survey.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Khandre, who chaired the session in the absence of Shamanur Shivashankarappa (unable to attend due to age-related health issues), said the discussion focused on what should be entered under the religion and caste columns during the survey.

“This is not a political meeting,” he clarified, “but a non-partisan gathering of Lingayat and Veerashaiva legislators from all parties, convened with the sole aim of safeguarding the interests of our community”. 

He emphasised that a unanimous decision had been reached and that the goal was to ensure the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community was accurately represented in the state’s data.

He added that awareness would be spread among community members with the cooperation of elected representatives and religious leaders.

“Our community has always stood for equality. We do not wish to deny any other community their rights, but we also cannot allow injustice to our own,” he asserted.

Minister M B Patil, recommended that survey participants should clearly mention ‘Lingayat’ or ‘Veerashaiva’ in the caste column and their specific sub-caste under the sub-caste column, rather than mentioning only their sub-group identity.

Vijayendra called for unified support for the Mahasabha’s decision, highlighting the prevailing confusion among community members regarding what to enter in the caste column. He stressed the need for a coordinated outreach to ensure that clear and consistent information reaches every household.

Former MP and senior BJP leader Prabhakar Kore echoed the importance of coordination, stating that all Veerashaiva-Lingayat organisations must first inform their members so the message can be disseminated effectively throughout the community.

It is reliably learnt that the meeting discussed the need to create awareness, advising community members to write ‘Hindu’ in religion column, ‘Veerashaiva/Lingayat’ in caste column and relevant sub-caste name in the sub-caste column during the survey.