Bengaluru: The apex body of the Lingayats has asked members of Karnataka's dominant community to identify themselves as Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the upcoming socio-economic survey in the state, as the politically influential community pushes for recognition as a separate religion distinct from the Hindus.
The missive comes before the caste enumeration exercise that is set to begin on September 22. Chief minister Siddaramaiah's government is taking up a fresh round of survey on directions from the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, and has targeted to complete the exercise in three months. If the Lingayats heed to the All India Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha's call, that may project a fewer number of Hindus, who form the BJP's core vote bank.
The Mahasabha's call comes in the backdrop of reports that the earlier survey, which classified Lingayat as a caste, showed their numbers at 11% of Karnataka's population-lower than the SCs (18%) and Muslims (13%). The community's leaders had all along claimed a proportion of about 17% in the state's population.
Forest minister Eshwar Khandre, who is also the senior vice-president of the community body, said the Mahasabha has decided that the community members must identify themselves as Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the religion column, Lingayat or Veerashaiva in the caste column and by their sub-caste in the third column, and help enumerators capture the community's real size. Since there is no separate mention of Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the religion column, the Mahasabha wants the community members to indicate it against the "others" option in the column.
Mahasabha state president Shankar Bidari pressed for official recognition of Veerashaiva-Lingayat as a separate religion. The state Congress regime has been forced to take up a fresh enumeration of castes after the AICC was flooded with complaints from political and religious leaders of dominant communities that the data gathered during the last survey were flawed. The AICC leadership pushed Siddaramaiah to model the census on the lines of the socio-economic, education, employment, political and caste survey the Congress regime in Telangana had conducted.
A few ministers representing the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities as well as their respective mutt heads had pointed out flaws in the earlier findings, saying the sub-caste wise dissection had suggested a sharp fall in the population of their communities.
It is to be seen how the BJP's national leadership will view the Mahasabha's demand for a separate religious identity, as former CMs BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, and current state president BY Vijayendra are Lingayats. Some senior RSS leaders are also from the community.
The missive comes before the caste enumeration exercise that is set to begin on September 22. Chief minister Siddaramaiah's government is taking up a fresh round of survey on directions from the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, and has targeted to complete the exercise in three months. If the Lingayats heed to the All India Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha's call, that may project a fewer number of Hindus, who form the BJP's core vote bank.
The Mahasabha's call comes in the backdrop of reports that the earlier survey, which classified Lingayat as a caste, showed their numbers at 11% of Karnataka's population-lower than the SCs (18%) and Muslims (13%). The community's leaders had all along claimed a proportion of about 17% in the state's population.
Forest minister Eshwar Khandre, who is also the senior vice-president of the community body, said the Mahasabha has decided that the community members must identify themselves as Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the religion column, Lingayat or Veerashaiva in the caste column and by their sub-caste in the third column, and help enumerators capture the community's real size. Since there is no separate mention of Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the religion column, the Mahasabha wants the community members to indicate it against the "others" option in the column.
Mahasabha state president Shankar Bidari pressed for official recognition of Veerashaiva-Lingayat as a separate religion. The state Congress regime has been forced to take up a fresh enumeration of castes after the AICC was flooded with complaints from political and religious leaders of dominant communities that the data gathered during the last survey were flawed. The AICC leadership pushed Siddaramaiah to model the census on the lines of the socio-economic, education, employment, political and caste survey the Congress regime in Telangana had conducted.
A few ministers representing the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities as well as their respective mutt heads had pointed out flaws in the earlier findings, saying the sub-caste wise dissection had suggested a sharp fall in the population of their communities.
It is to be seen how the BJP's national leadership will view the Mahasabha's demand for a separate religious identity, as former CMs BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, and current state president BY Vijayendra are Lingayats. Some senior RSS leaders are also from the community.
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