No politics in Siddaramaiah's panel move: Basavaraj Horatti

Basavaraj Horatti, JD(S) floor leader in the Legislative Council, who has been spearheading the campaign for separate religion status for Lingayats, is known for his straight talk. 

In a no-holds-bar interview with DC, the veteran leader  said the majority of Lingayat leaders in the BJP, including the party’s state president B.S. Yeddyurappa, were in favour of minority status for Lingayats but were afraid of coming out in the open fearing the wrath of RSS leaders. Here are excerpts from the interview.

Your demand for separate religion status for Lingayats has reached a crucial  stage with the CM constituting an expert panel to come up with a recommendation. What will be the next course of action?
We certainly welcome his move to refer all five memorandums submitted to him by separate groups among Lingayats and Veerashaivas to the Karnataka Minority Commission, and the formation of the expert committee to study these five memorandums. At the moment we feel we have won the first stage. We will wait till the recommendations of  this panel come out and the state government sends it for consideration of the union government. Our second stage of the battle will commence if the union government rejects it. We will approach the Supreme Court, which will be the third stage.

But don't you think, CM Siddaramaiah is playing politics with Lingayat community  by announcing formation of an expert panel. He used to stress on unanimity among the stakeholders seeking on separate religious status. 
No. I don't see any politics in his decision. What he has done is refer all five memorandums submitted by various stakeholders of our community to the commission. Had he picked  one memorandum, then one could have termed it political. 

Despite your claims that all five stakeholders have the same demand, the Veerashaiva Mahasabha has gone on record opposing your claim. 
We requested Mahasabha to join us. However, Mahasabha has been adamant on its stand that it wants Veerashaivas to be included in our memorandum, which we did not allow. The problem in taking Veerashaivas along is that their demand will not stand scrutiny in a court of law. Earlier on two occasions, both the Union government and Supreme Court had rejected the Mahasabha's application for including Veerashaivas as a minority. 

Why are Panchapeeta Swamijis opposing your demand tooth and nail?
The Panchapeeta Swamijis submitted a memorandum seeking Beda Jangama status for the community to then PM A.B. Vajpayee, but it was rejected by then Home Minister L.K. Advani. We never opposed their demand, but they are opposing our cause now. All I can say is that these Swamijis and Mahasabha president, Shamanur Shivashankarappa fear that they might eventually lose their identity and support which is why they are opposing minority status. 

How will you convince Siddaganga seer since he has opposed separate religion status?
We are open to discussing this with him. Since we have given a representation to the government, it is inappropriate to discuss the issue with him at this juncture.

You often blame RSS leaders for derailing your demand for religion status for Lingayats, how true are your allegations?
RSS leader Su. Ramanna had openly opposed our cause and later he apologised for it. Udupi Pejavar Math Swamiji has opposed our demand too. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has instructed the RSS cadre not to support separate religion status for Lingayats. 

Lingayat leaders in the BJP are not supporting your agitation, so how can you claim that 80 per cent of the community stands by you?
The RSS has restricted them from backing us. In fact many BJP legislators are supporting our cause and giving logistical support to our agitation. BJP leaders including B.S. Yeddyurappa expressed their inability to pledge open support to the cause, but Yeddyurappa has told us that his hands are tied, so he cannot come out openly in support of the demand.

The Lingayat agitation is now being compared to the Patidar agitation in Gujarat where BJP  faced the wrath of the majority Patel community. Will  it be the same here too?
In Gujarat, the Congress supported Hardik Patel, but here, the Congress has not supported our cause. The participation of some ministers in our agitation is in their personal capacity. The Congress has not assured us minority status while the BJP is opposing it openly. 

Do you think the BJP’s refusal to support the demand for separate religion status will adversely affect them in the elections?
It might, people are already angry with the BJP for not supporting the Lingayat cause. 

Will the RSS allow the BJP government at the Centre to accord minority status to Lingayats?
At the most, the Centre can reject the application. But once the agitation turns into a people’s movement, no one can stop it. If the Centre rejects the demand, they will definitely invite the wrath of the community. 

Do you have plans to create a separate forum of the Lingayat Mahasabha to counter the Veerashaiva Mahasabha?
Yes, we have decided to create a Lingayat Mahasabha. It is necessary because of the adamant stand of the Veerashaiva Mahasabha.

Let’s talk about JD(S) now. Your leader H.D. Kumaraswamy some time ago took rented accommodation in Hubballi claiming he will tour N-K and revive the party. But nothing happened, why?
He had plans but nothing could be executed properly due to his recurring health problems. 

How many seats will you win in Mumbai and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions?
Out of 96 seats in both regions, if we put in our best efforts, we will win about 30. Already we have identified 30 candidates like Shashibushan Hegde from Sirsi.

A few leaders of BJP who were neglected by the party are ready to join JDS, is it true?
We have given deadline of December 31 to these leaders to join as it will help us identify candidates. There are rumours about BJP leaders Umesh Katti and Balachandra Jarkiholi joining the party, I am not sure if they have approached H.D. Deve Gowda or Kumaraswamy.

It looks like that Congress is comfortably placed as there are no corruption charges against the CM? 
That is not correct. People are fed up with the Congress government. It is true there are no corruption charges against the CM but what has he done to the  state in the last five years?  His pro-people policies are not new, even during Ramakrishna Hegde’s period, there were pro-people policies. He will also have to face anti-incumbency.