Now for Lingayat votes, Siddaramaiah offers KPSC post to seer's brother

Bengaluru: In a bid to woo Lingayat votes in south Karnataka and Mysuru district in particular, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has recommended the brother of a pontiff of Suttur Mutt, for the post of member in Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).

Sources in the CM 's office told Deccan Chronicle that the name of Mr Shadakshari Swamy,  Commissioner, Religion and Charitable Endowments, was proposed to Raj Bhavan two weeks ago for approval. His name has been recommended under the ‘Lingayat’ quota in KPSC. The decision to recommend him was reportedly taken during a recent visit of the CM to Suttur Mutt, a powerful Lingayat mutt in  south Karnataka. The mutt was considered apolitical and recommendation of seer's brother for KPSC member, has surprised everyone.

Sources termed it a ‘master stroke’ of Mr Siddaramaiah to break into the Lingayat vote bank of the BJP, especially in Mysuru district. In fact, Lingayats had traditionally supported the saffron party  and this had helped the party  win a few seats in Mysuru district prior to the 2013 Assembly polls. However, the BJP was swept away in the last election with the Congress bagging almost all seats leaving a few to JD(S). 

With the 2018 polls approaching, It has become inevitable for the CM to woo Lingayat votes to dismiss the accusation of dividing Veerashaivas-Lingayats on the issue of  separate religion tag. Besides, the CM wants to field his son, Dr Yatindra Siddaramaiah from Varuna (now held by CM) and  wants to contest from Chamundeshwari. 

Apart from this, Public Works Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa has made up his mind to contest from Nanjangud Assembly constituency and leave T Narasipur to son,  Subhash Mahadevappa in the coming polls. All the four Assembly constituencies have a sizeable number of Lingayat voters. For both Mr Siddaramaiah and Dr Mahadevappa, it has therefore become necessary to attract Lingayat voters.

Sources pointed out the reason behind inducting first-time MLA from Gundlupet, M.C. Mohanakumari aka Gita Mahadevprasad, wife of late H.C. Mahadevaprasad, was to send a message to the Lingayat community that the Congress cares for them. This is considered a calculated move by the CM to divert the traditional vote bank of BJP to the Congress, particularly when BJP President B.S. Yeddyurappa is a popular Lingayat leader in both Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts and is putting in a lot of effort to ensure the victory of his party candidates. 

Meanwhile, sources close to Suttur Mutt said the mutt had no role in recommending Mr Shadakshari Swamy's name for KPSC member.