A memorandum demanding religious status to Lingayat community, signed by senior BJP leaders in 2013, has come back to bite the party ahead of 2018 elections.
The BJP has been on an offensive against Karnataka’s Congress government, after Chief Minister Siddaramiah announced the government would consider providing religious status to Lingayats, one of the prominent communities in the state.
This is opposed by the BJP, as it fears losing a large chunk of its Lingayat vote bank. "There is no difference between Veerashaivas and Lingayats and they are very much part of Hinduism," Yeddyurappa recently said.
But the memorandum by Shamanur Shivashankarappa, president of All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha – an umbrella organisation of Veerashaivas and Lingayats – which has resurfaced now shows BJP leaders supported the cause of Lingayat religion.
The memorandum dated 25 July 2013 has signatures of all Lingayat MLAs and MPs of the state, including senior BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa, according to a Times of India report.
And the memorandum signed by him read: "We, the undersigned people's representatives of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa and other parts of the country, comprising about 4 crore people from the community, gathered on 25 July and resolved to support the memorandum."
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