Karnataka election: BJP plans steps to counter Congress's Lingayat campaign

BJP's Lingayat leaders led by parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa discussed the possibility of the next CM hailing from the community in the event of the party winning the May 10 assembly polls. The meeting held at Yediyurappa's residence in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening was attended by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and discussed strategies needed to retain the support of the Lingayat community.

The meeting came in the backdrop of Congress campaign that BJP had 'not honoured' Lingayat leaders, after former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi were denied tickets. The two thereafter joined Congress and were given tickets to fight the ensuing assembly elections. Congress' accusations of BJP 'humiliating' senior Lingayat leaders, incidentally, resembles BJP's similar accusations since 1990s against Congress after Veerendra Patil was removed as CM following a stroke.

BJP leaders discussed ways to counter Congress charges and remove doubts from the minds of voters with polls less than three weeks away. Interacting with the media in Bidar district, Bommai said Pradhan had agreed to convey the sentiment the leaders expressed at the meeting to the BJP leadership. The BJP has planned a series of visits by its top leaders to Lingayat mutts across Karnataka to reassure the party's 'commitment to the community'. The party has asked members belonging to the community to reach out to heads of Lingayat sub sects. The party has also planned 50 rallies by Yediyurappa in regions dominated by the community to counter the Congress campaign. Yediyurappa will address rallies in Hubli-Dharwad Central and Athani, where Shettar and Savadi are contesting. The party would highlight the point that Congress' Lingayat CMs were limited to S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil.