Has Yeddyurappa lost Lingayat support in Karnataka?
- The Lingayats had organised a mass meeting today to decide on the separate religion
- One of the seers targetted BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa and said, don't even dream of becoming a CM
- Absence of BJP leaders including Yeddyurappa had angered the seers and Lingayat leaders
- Will this development have an adverse effect on Yeddyurappa and his dream of becoming the CM for the second time?
FollowThe Lingayats have organised a mass meeting today to decide whether they want a separate religion or should they continue with Hinduism?
Panchamasaali Peetha Mutt seer told that BS Yeddyurappa better not even dream of becoming a CM. They expressed disappointment over BJP leaders not attending the Lingayat convention.
BJP leader R Ashok expressed disappointment over seer's comments and said attending a convention is a personal choice and no one should be forced to do so.
Though the seer referred to Yeddyurappa, the BJP leader has more reacted in this matter. But it is a clear indication that a large vote bank of Lingayats (who considered Yeddyurappa as their leader) are disappointed with his silence over the demand of separate religion.
Yeddyurappa is not in a position to take a personal stand on this because supporting the separate religion theory will hit BJP and its vote bank in the Centre as they are relying on the Hindu votes and they want Lingayats to be in the Hindu religion.
Thus with Assembly elections next year, BJP might have just lost a huge vote bank of Lingayats (59 lakh) who form the third largest community in Karnataka after Scheduled Castes (1.08 crore) and Muslims (75 lakh).
It is also said that Yeddyurappa was given an important post in the BJP as he belongs to a stronger community. But without his community's support, will the leader still be considered powerful? Will BKP regret its decision to project Yeddyurappa as the chief ministerial candidate for the coming election?
The answer to all these questions depends on Yeddyurappa's reaction and BJP's corrective measures to pull Lingayats towards them, again.
On the other hand, Congress is not leaving any stone unturned to appease the Lingayats and has even promised to look into separate Lingayat religion. Â
