Lingayat issue: BJP will clear its stance after Karnataka polls, says Amit Shah

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, who is touring the poll-bound Karnataka, said Tuesday that the party will clear its stand on the Lingayat issue after the Karnataka Assembly elections.

He also called the decision of the Karnataka government to give minority status to Lingayat community as a strategy to 'polarise votes'. Addressing the media in Mysuru, Shah termed the step as a part of plan chalked out to stop their chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa from becoming the CM.

"This is a strategy to stop Yeddyurappa ji from becoming Karnataka CM. They (Siddaramaiah government) want to polarise Lingayat votes but the community is aware of it. BJP will make its stance clear after polls," Shah said, as per ANI.

The Siddaramaiah government recently recommended to the Centre to accord a religious minority tag to Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats in what is seen as an attempt to wean away a section of them from the BJP. 

The BJP chief added that the Congress has become a 'symbol of corruption' and said that the people of Karnataka have made up their mind to change Siddaramaiah government.

The Karnataka government led by Siddaramaiah is the ATM of corruption for Congress party. I have not seen a govt as insensitive as this, which disappointingly says that farmer suicides are part of a conspiracy. pic.twitter.com/WT0PDCLKWJ

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 31, 2018

On Friday too, stepping into the home turf of Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah, Shah had told him that his 'time' had come to an end. Shah had begun his fourth round of visit in the state on Tuesday to with a tour of old Mysuru areas and had asserted that Siddaramaiah and JD(S) would receive "biggest shock of their lives" from the region in the Assembly polls.

"It is said that the BJP is a bit weak here (old Mysuru region), but after seeing the work of the party workers, I expect Siddaramaiah ji and the JD(S) to get the biggest shock of their lives from this (Old) Mysuru region," he had told a party convention, PTI reported.

Addressed the Navashakti Samavesh of three assembly constituencies in Mysuru. Karyakartas of @BJP4Karnataka unit is all set dislodge the corrupt Siddaramaiah government and bring in the BJP government with full majority. pic.twitter.com/bxdopfFo0n

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 30, 2018

Addressed the Navashakti Samavesh in Chamarajanagar (Karnataka). The Siddaramaiah govt. has become a symbol of corruption and violence. Congress cannot take Karnataka on the path of development only a BJP government can develop Karnataka and restore its pride. pic.twitter.com/48KmtPfLC4

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 30, 2018

There are multiple fronts on which CM Siddaramaiah has failed his own constituency. Mandya-Mysuru region has one of the highest farmer suicide rates in the state. Last year, there were more than 265 infant deaths in just 7 months in Mysuru district.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 30, 2018

The BJP president had begun his third leg of the tour on March 26, 2018, by seeking blessings of 111-year old Sri Shivakumara Swami of Siddhaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, a revered seer of the Lingayat community.

The meeting with the Lingayat seers is being seen as an attempt to reach out to the Lingayats/Veeshaivas, who are numerically and politically powerful in the state and form a major voter base for the BJP.

The elections to the 224-Karnataka Assembly will be held on May 12, while the counting of votes will take place on May 15.

(With Agency inputs