Move seeking minority status for Veerashaiva-Lingayat after 2023 polls: MB Patil

Patil's recent call to revive the demand for the ‘religious minority’ status allegedly caused some wariness within the Congress

Former Congress minister M B Patil on Friday clarified that any move to seek ‘religious minority’ status for the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community will be done with full consensus and after the 2023 Assembly elections.

Patil said this at a news conference to clear the air after his recent call to revive the demand for the ‘religious minority’ status allegedly caused some wariness within the Congress.

“I have never used words such as ‘fight’, ‘struggle’ or ‘separatism’. I have said that we will start discussions after the 2023 elections,” Patil said. “Earlier, there was a wrong propaganda that Veerashaivas and Lingayats are not the same. Today, I’m saying we will go together and I don’t see what the problem is,” he said.

Patil, who led the campaign for a ‘religious minority’ tag ahead of the 2018 elections, said he would try to bring together the Pancha Peethas (holy pantheon), the Virakta Mutts, the Veerashaiva Mahasabha and the Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha.

“I will take two steps back and make an attempt. There are ideological differences. It may or may not be successful. All of us with sit and discuss openly to figure out what is good for the community,” he said.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had decided that ‘religious minority’ status should be accorded to Lingayats and Veerashaiva-Lingayats who believe in 12th century social reformer Basavanna’s ideology. This led to a rift within the community: the Lingayats argued that theirs was a religion founded by Basavanna that was independent of the Veerashaiva faith. The Veerashaivas opposed this and argued that Lingayats and Veerashaivas were the same, and that the Veerashaiva faith predated Basavanna.

The entire issue has come to be known as a big reason for the Congress’s defeat in the 2018 Assembly polls.

“There was confusion back then due to lack of time and all of it happened close to the election, which gave it a political colour,” Patil said. “This time, without any confusion and prestige, we will sit, take as much time as it takes and decide how we need to move forward,” he said.

Patil, who is seen as trying to emerge as a Lingayat leader of the Congress, argued that ‘religious minority’ status would immensely benefit the community in education and jobs. “Our children will get 50 per cent seats in medical, dental and engineering colleges, as well as UPSC and KPSC,” he said. He pointed out that if the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community was to get the minority tag, then the ongoing agitation of the Panchamasali sub-sect for Category-2A reservation won’t arise.

Asked if he was eyeing the chief minister’s chair for the next election, Patil said his community campaign had nothing to do with the Congress. “I’m saying this will be taken up after the elections expressly to avoid such speculation.”