I don't think the Lingayats are with MB Patil, says Shamanur Shivashankarappa

Sometimes, a random move by a political leader may yield big political dividends and seeing this, his followers and the people may term him a visionary and a master strategist. When M.B. Patil, water resources minister, and his team started mobilising people seeking religion status for Lingayats, everyone felt it was a master stroke by Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah who had at last managed to divide the community’s votes and paved the way for defeat of the BJP-which had relied on the community’s support-in the next elections.

But three months after the first Lingayat rally was held, the demand for religion status has been derailed with Lingayats claiming Veerashaivas are not the inheritors of Basaveshwara’s ideology, leading to a division in the community. The divide has reached a point of no return and Mr Siddaramaiah might be wondering now why he took such a gamble. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Akhila Bharat Veerashaiva Mahasabha (ABVM) president and senior Congress leader, Shamanur Shivashankarappa minced no words while expressing his displeasure against Mr Patil and Mr Siddaramaiah on their mishandling of the religion status issue. Here are excerpts from the interview.

The Hubballi rally by the Lingayats held last Sunday, turned out to be ugly with many speakers hitting out at other leaders and religions below the belt. What message according to you, have they sent out with the rally?

(smiles) No message has been sent out. The speakers only spoke ill of others. One swamiji said if you were born to one, then you are a Lingayat and if you were born to five, you are a Veerashaiva. On hearing this, a large number of people got upset and expressed their displeasure. Then minister, M.B. Patil used very bad words against Prabhakar Kore, a BJP MP. The organisers had claimed that five lakh people would attend the rally, but the information I got was that there were only 50,000. It was a failure.

Four or five months back when this whole thing started, the focus was on religion status. Now, it has reached a stage where they (Lingayat leaders) attack every other leader or religion. Why?

Initially, they were doing good and got a good public response. As the months passed by, they seem to have drifted from their path and after the Hubballi rally, it is clear they are losing acceptance in the community. It is good, their downfall has begun. We have an upper hand now. The Veerashaiva Mahasabha was not set up by me, It is 110 years old. It was started by Hanagal Kumaraswamy and I am the 23rd president. 

There were demands for religion status for quite some time. How can a demand which could not become an issue for 100 years, became one two or three days after the felicitation of the CM? You can see who is behind this.

Last time when the Congress was in power at the Centre, it was Patil (M.B. Patil) who took us to meet Shinde (Sushil Kumar Shinde) from Solapur, the then home minister who is Mr Patil’s neighbour. Now, people have turned their back on them. You wait for a few more days and see what happens.

In hindsight, did you feel you made a mistake by honouring the chief minister?

(laughs) I already said ‘yes’ to this question. When the legislature session was going on, all these leaders (from the community) came to me and said that the CM had taken a historic decision to make it compulsory to install Basavanna’s portrait in government offices and renamed Vijayapura Women’s University after Akka Mahadevi, so, we should felicitate him. I immediately agreed. The CM gave us four days for organising the event. We did not have time to properly organise a rally, still we from ABVM held a big function at Palace Grounds. When we planned it, these leaders had promised to share the costs, but none paid a paisa (laughs).

Did you meet the CM after the controversy broke out?

Yes. He said all should come together and then he would take a call on religion status. After differences cropped up, we met three or four times to evolve a consensus. Both factions agreed to set up a committee drawing five from each side. But  within four days, they said ‘no’ to the idea. I could not figure out why they suddenly said ‘no’. Then, they said they would conduct a survey. And thereafter, one swamiji after swamiji started singing different tunes.
The leaders particularly Mr S.M. Jamdar had claimed that Veerashaivas were different from Lingayats and Veeerashaivas had originally come from Andhra Pradesh and therefore, they had not inherited Basaveshwara’s traditions.
Sometimes, I just laugh at such claims. Someone else said Basavanna was not a Brahmin. At times, they say whatever they feel, like saying Veerashaivas are different from Lingayats. It is like saying-Bharat and India are different. An expert has already asked Mr Jamdar a question: Did Basavanna, in his Vachanas, use the word Lingayat?  Basavanna actually told his guru, ‘I was a Shaiva and you made me a Veerashaiva.’

What is your game plan? We were told that a rally would be held in Gadag in December first week to give a fitting reply to the Lingayat rally?

We have no specific plan. Let them do it. Our strategy is to wait and watch. Pontiffs from the Pancha Peetha had planned a rally in Gadag. We (ABVM) said, ‘Do not drag us’ into it. They wanted us to come and inaugurate the rally. We are not ready for this.

JD (S) MLC and Lingayat leader, Basavaraj Horatti wrote a letter to you and requested you to become magnanimous and drop the word ‘Veerashaiva’ so that Lingayats could try to get  religion tag. Did you reply to this?

No. Why should I reply? How come we agree to his demand. No, it is not acceptable.

Water resources minister, M.B. Patil said he would like to become CM...

(laughs) The seat is not vacant now. When the election comes he will see what happens.

But he has the support of lakhs of Lingayats...

What are you saying? I do not think the community is with him. No doubt, he has the support of a few leaders. Let him resign and come out and then check his popularity. He will see it for himself (the reality).

Will this benefit the CM politically?

(pauses) It depends on his moves. If he recommends religion status for Veerashaiva-Lingayats, then he will get huge support from the community.