Lingayats are distraught under Siddaramaiah, says veteran Cong MLA

Bengaluru, Sep 30 (IANS) The Lingayat Chief Minister debate has come again to the forefront following Congress MLA and President of All India Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha Shamanur Shivashankarappa raising his voice.

Shamanur said that nothing could be gained from the Deputy Chief Minister’s post. A Lingayat candidate should become the Chief Minister. “The Lingayats are distraught under the rule of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” he said.

He said that Lingayat officers are not considered for the prominent posts.

“The community was better off during the tenure of late chief ministers Nijalingappa and J.H. Patel. Now our community is distraught,” he said.

He maintained that during the Veerashaiva Mahasabha programme recently held in Bengaluru, he had spoken about that how the important posts are not given to Lingayats. “I have not discussed this with ministers. What can we do with the Deputy Chief Minister’s post, if consideration is made, our demand is for the Chief Minister’s post,” he said.

The demand from the 92-year-old leaders from the Lingayat community, one of the most senior persons from the central Karnataka region, alleged running a republic in Davanagere region has put the state Congress in a fix.

The Lingayat community which rallied behind former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa had shifted to Congress in the previous assembly elections. The Congress party fielded 46 candidates in the elections and 37 of them won. The BJP had given tickets to 69 candidates and only 15 managed to win.

The party also welcomed Lingayat leaders, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, who were denied tickets by the BJP.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's loyal ministers are batting for the creation of more Deputy Chief Minister posts while the Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar camp Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad is against Siddaramaiah and raised his concerns for Dalit chief minister for the state.