Rahul Linga Deekshe: A masterstroke that’s sent shock waves to BJP

Muralidhara Khajane

Siddaramotsava aka ‘Amritamahotsava’ as it was called, is the recently concluded ambitious Congress event organised at Davangere to mark the 75th birthday of senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah. This appears to have sent shivers down the spine of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka. Though this much publicised birthday bash did not augur well initially with some of the Cong party leaders, is now being viewed as a grand arithmetic strategy of the Congress to upset the applecart of the BJP. The spate of communal events in recent times is seen as a mask to cover for the failure of the development narrative in Karnataka.

What upsets BJP is one of the Congress’s top leaders, Rahul Gandhi, visiting Murugha Mutt while on his way to Siddaramotsava and taking Ishta Linga Deekshe. This gesture is being perceived in political circles as endorsing the universal principles of Basavanna – the 12th-century Lingayat saint in the Bhakti movement and architect of Anubhava Mantapa – the first religious Parliament in human history

This simple gesture of Rahul Gandhi sent shock waves in the BJP citadel, as the former Congress president hit the communal party where it really hurts. In the last three decades, the BJP has taken the Lingayat community for granted. Lingayats have offered support to the BJP for long. That’s precisely why BJP leaders called Rahul Gandhi an “Election Hindu” and attributed political motives behind him taking the Ishta Linga Deekshe

Both Siddaramotsava and Rahul Gandhi taking Ishta Linga Deeksha happened in the central Karnataka area dominated by the Lingayat community, Harihara taluk, which is just 35 km from Davangere. It is the hotbed of Panchamasali (a major Lingayat sect) politics. It is from here that Panchamasali Jagadguru Peetha headed by Vachananda Swamiji is fighting for a 2A reservation for the Lingayats. The issue has been threatening the BJP for the past two years, to which both BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai could not find an amicable solution. And the result is that this power sect of the Lingyat community has got upset and is threatening to launch a stir

Support of the Lingayat community, which the BJP took for granted is slowly crumbling, as the BJP high command unseated the unquestionable leader of the community BS Yeddyurappa from the CM’s post, without assigning any reason in the recent past

Lingayat seers and leaders had also taken strong objection to the wrong and twisted information on Basavanna – the Lingayat philosopher and social reformer – in the class IX social science textbook. The seers are accusing BJP of supporting Brahmanical texts, and intentionally showing disrespect to Lingayat and Vokkaliga saints and philosophers.

BJP’s strategy stirring the communal pot to upend caste arithmetic of the Congress and JD(S) in the time of polls is facing serious backlash from young BJP workers and Sangh Parivar cadre. According to BJP leaders, the party has never faced such a backlash from its own workers and Hindu activists before in the state. Further, the cadre is totally upset with statements of BJP leaders including KS Eshwarappa and CT Ravi. The killing of BJP youth activist Praveen Nettaru and the consequent resentment among the party workers, especially Yuva Morcha activists, were among issues discussed with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Karnataka

Siddaramotsava and Rahul’s visit synchronised with the timing when BJP is antagonised on various fronts and the party’s pet issues such as Hindutva, nationalism and development turned out to be a baggage. Knowing fully well it will be impossible to come to power on Modi’s image, Hindutva plank and development agenda, this phenomenon is worrying the top brass of the BJP and this is precisely why Amit Shah is learnt to have visited Karnataka to take corrective steps keeping prospects of the party in the coming Assembly polls

Per se it looks like a repetition of the situation prior to the 2018 polls to Karnataka Assembly. BJP, which was hell-bent on capturing power, was upset when Lingayat churning looked like making an impact on the poll prospects of the BJP. Following a demand from the Lingayat community, Siddaramaiah announced a minority religion tag – they long wanted a separate identity for Lingayatism, as opposed to Veerashaivism, which they equate with the Hindu religion. Siddaramaiah-led Congress government took this decision based on the suggestions of the Nagamohan Das Committee report to form a separate religion status for the Lingayat community. Nagamohan Das Committee was accepted under Section 2D of the State Minorities Commission Act and sent to the Centre for final approval

This caste-sensitive development, which came just a few months before the poll