BJP President Amit Shah today met Shivakumara Swami of the Siddaganga Mutt in Tumkur, Karnataka, in an attempt to win back the Lingayat community support in the poll-bound state.
#WATCH: BJP President Amit Shah met Shivakumara Swami of Siddaganga Mutt in Karnataka’s Tumkur pic.twitter.com/jEn8rscZ9c
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2018
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recommended separate religion tag for the Lingayat community taking Congress closer to their ‘Bharat ke tukde‘ dream. However, many are not in favour of the Lingayat being declared a separate religion.
As per reports, Shah is expected to meet all top Lingayat mutts in central Karnataka that have come out in favour of government’s decision to award their community the status of a minority religion. The BJP hopes that Shah’s visit will convince the mutt heads in favour of BJP instead of Congress.
On Tuesday, Shah will visit the Madara Chennaiah mutt, which has been traditionally associated with Dalits. He will also visit the Bekkinkal, Sirgere and Muruga mutts among others during his visit to the state’s central region. He will end his tour with a rally aimed at the ST community in Challakere in Chitradurga. Shah is also expected to reach out to the Dalit Madiga community which is upset with the Siddaramaiah government for failure to fulfil their demand of implementing Justice AJ Sadashiava Commission report which recommended internal reservations for Madigas within SC quota. He also intends to reach out to Vokkaliga and other backward caste communities.
Earlier, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress had been on a whirlwind tour of temples in Malnad, coastal and south Karnataka.
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