Home Minister M B Patil on Wednesday expressed fear that the separate Lingayat religion issue, which has been raked up now, could impact the outcome of the election.

Patil, in his capacity as chairperson of the BLDE Association, has moved the Election Commission with a complaint against a Kannada publication that published a "fake" letter that he purportedly wrote to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in July 2017 on orchestrating the separate Lingayat religion movement. The letter carries the BLDE Association’s letterhead.

"This is a poll-time conspiracy," Patil told reporters after submitting his complaint. "A section of media has colluded with the BJP. This could impact the election. The CID is already looking into the origin of the fake letter and I will not interfere with the probe," he said.

In his complaint, Patil has urged the Election Commission to ban the Kannada daily till May 23, when the Lok Sabha election results will be out.