Amit Shah’s visit today to Karnataka’s Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, Karnataka, an influential Lingayat religious institution, assumes great significance especially in the backdrop of political developments in the state.
Shah will attend the 115th birth anniversary of Sri Shivakumara Swamy, who was popularly referred to as the ‘Walking God’ for the social services rendered to the people through the administration of the Math. Sri Shivakumara Swamy passed away in 2019 at the age of 111 and the reins of the Math were taken over by Sri Siddalinga Swamy.
Shah’s visit is being seen as BJP’s central leadership’s open message to the Lingayat community that the party will continue to support the community and its aspirations.
This confidence-building exercise is to clear any misunderstandings in the Lingayat community, as the party replaced BS Yediyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai as the chief minister. Lingayats constitute about 17% of Karnataka’s population and Yediyurappa is considered one of the tallest leaders of the community.
Incidentally, Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra are the main organizers of the ‘Walking God’ birth anniversary celebrations in Tumakuru.
Mighty Monasteries of Karnataka
There are over 500 monasteries in Karnataka and more than a dozen of them are considered highly influential. In recent years, many monasteries or religious institutions have begun to openly support a particular politician or party, some even supporting candidates, campaigning for them, while others lobbying for party tickets. Is.
The religious leaders of these monasteries represent different communities such as Lingayats, Vokkaligas and other backward castes. These religious institutions are known for their extensive work of providing food, education and employment to the socially and economically backward people.
It is a common practice in Karnataka for leaders across party lines to visit monasteries from different communities, especially those belonging to the state’s two major upper caste groups, the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas.
Lingayats form about 17% of the state’s population and Vokkaligas constitute about 15% of the state’s population. Politicians visit the monasteries of these two influential communities to garner support for their parties, especially during elections.
Shah’s visit to Tumakuru Math is being perceived as a step by the BJP to garner the support of Lingayats in the state ahead of next year’s assembly elections.
BS Yeddyurappa dominated
In July last year, top BJP leaders were under pressure to replace 78-year-old Yediyurappa as the chief minister. The party’s ‘unwritten’ rule of promoting all leaders above the age of 75 years to ‘margadarshak mandals’ (guidance panels) did not apply to Yeddyurappa as he remained the tallest and most loved politician of the Lingayat community. At the age of 78, Yediyurappa remained CM, but the administration, including the transfer of bureaucrats, began a series of allegations of corruption and arbitrariness by his son Vijayendra.
Unable to ignore the growing complaints, the BJP central leadership persuaded Yeddyurappa to step down as CM. Lingayat mutt leaders were unhappy with the move to replace Yediyurappa, who remains the community’s tallest leader. Heads of all Lingayat monasteries in Karnataka unitedly appealed to the central leadership of the BJP not to replace Yeddyurappa, a support that no other party leader has received till date.
This is also a major reason why Yediyurappa was able to persuade and convince the central leadership of the BJP to make Basavaraj Bommai his successor. To ensure that the Lingayat vote bank remained intact and the community was not further hurt, Yeddyurappa’s choice was accepted.
Siddaganga Swamy Most beloved and powerful Lingayat seer
Popularly known as ‘Nadeduva Devaraja’ or ‘Walking God’ for his humanitarian work, Lingayat Swami was instrumental in shaping the future of Karnataka politics. Such was the influence of the Math that all party leaders, Prime Ministers like Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi, would seek his blessings from the Pontiff to safeguard their political future.
A staunch supporter of Lingayatism, Shivakumara Swamy was born in 1907 and ordained a monk at the age of 23. The Padma Shri recipient was extremely popular for his work especially in the field of education. His tireless efforts to provide good education and nutrition to the students of all socio-economic background made him popular among the people.
While politicians lined up to seek the pontiff’s blessings, the “politically influential” Shivakumara Swamy did not openly take sides, he always remained neutral. Although every time a politician was seen taking the blessings of the mutt head, it is perceived as an indirect message to the Lingayats that they have the support of the Siddaganga Matha.
How Mathas have influenced Karnataka politics
In 2008, when the BJP opened its account in the South, the then Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa famously started his political campaign from this Lingayat Math.
At the peak of the controversy over declaring Lingayats as a religion, a statement by then Congress minister MB Patil claimed that the Siddaganga seer had approved a separate religion tag for Lingayatism. A letter from the seer’s office disproving this claim hurt Congress, which earned the tag of trying to break up a community that wanted to remain united.
In 2019, when the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government began postponing a visit to the Vokkaliga Math, the leader sent out a strong message. The chief saint of Vokkaliga Math issued an veiled warning that any move to destabilize the government led by Vokkaliga leader Kumaraswamy would not be tolerated.
Despite warnings, Kumaraswamy’s government fell after the JD(S)-Congress alliance lost the trust vote in the state assembly.
Another example of Siddaganga Matha’s influence in political decision-making was in 2014, when the Karnataka Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (Amendment) Bill, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, sought to bring under its control the educational institutions run by monasteries and other religious groups. had demanded. , Saints across the state opposed the move and the government was forced to drop the bill in 2017 and face voters.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.