Lingayat seers back Yeddyurappa to the hilt; see only his love for sons

Besieged from every side, chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has his caste group to thank for unquestioning, unconditional support. On Monday, a group of seers from the Lingayat community closed ranks and warned of dire consequences if Yeddyurappa is sacked.

Jnanprabhu Siddarama Swami went so far as to say that Yeddyurappa should not be punished for something that his predecessors have done too. “Who does not have love for his son?” he asked.

Appealing to the BJP high command, Lingayat seers said that Yeddyurappa ought not to fall to the conspiracy hatched by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s family. They alleged that a move was afoot to oust the Lingayat chief minister from office.

The Lingayats are a powerful group who trace their origins to the teachings of 12th century social reformer and philosopher Basavanna, who preached against caste rigidity. Basavanna lived and taught in Northern Karnataka, and Lingayats are now a dominant group in pockets of south Karnataka too.

Among the seers who have rallied to the rescue of Yeddyurappa are Rambhapuri Sri of Balehonnur, Jnanaprabhu Siddarama Swamiji of Yadanadu Mutt, Sanehalli Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swamiji and Dayananda Swamiji of Basavadharma Peetha. All of them believe that if Yeddyurappa is forced to relinquish office, he would only be a victim of the nasty scheming of Deve Gowda and family. The Veerashaiva Mahasabha also came out strongly in favour of Yeddyurappa.

The swamijis cited the examples of former chief ministers S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil, and said that forces inimical to the community prevented them from functioning well, and ousted them from chief ministership. The Lingayats would not tolerate such an attempt at undermining leadership from within the community again, they said.

The Rambhapuri seer warned that if the BJP high command demanded Yeddyurappa’s resignation, it would face the consequences in the days to come. “He should not be punished just because he is facing charges of corruption and nepotism. Action should be taken only after the allegations are proved. Any punitive action at this stage will be construed as victimisation of yet another Lingayat leader. We will welcome action against Yeddyurappa if he is proved guilty after a judicial probe,” he said, adding that the baseless allegations of the opposition should not be allowed to foment crisis in the state.

“Yeddyurappa is BJP and BJP is Yeddyurappa. It is because of Yeddyurappa that the BJP came to power. The BJP’s action in seeking the resignation of the chief minister is an assault on Lingayat dharma,” Jnanprabhu Siddarama Swami said, adding that the BJP high command should give Yeddyurappa a chance to prove his innocence.

Dayananda Swamiji said, “It is the conspiracy of the JD(S) to destabilise chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.  Protests would be launched across the state if Yeddyurappa is ousted. He has done a lot for the state, and he should
be allowed to continue the good work.”