Bengaluru: M.B. Patil, senior Congress leader and former home minister of Karnataka is the party’s Lingayat face in the poll-bound state. Chairman of the Congress’ Campaign Committee in Karnataka, Patil is expected to serve as a bridge between the party and the community which appears to be wavering in its decision to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state elections.
In 2018, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had approved the recommendation of a panel to accord a separate religious minority status to the Lingayats just before elections. Patil had been instrumental in bringing this about.
In an exclusive interaction with ThePrint’s Political Editor D.K. Singh and Associate Editor Sharan Poovanna, Patil spoke about how the Congress is finally understanding the importance of Lingayats and shared the party’s plans for the community in the upcoming elections, be it in ticket distribution or adequate representation. He also shed light on why the group had decided to part ways with the Congress in the late 1990s and what will bring them back. Edited Excerpts:
You are the Congress’ Lingayat face. How are you preparing for the elections considering the head of the campaign committee is usually one of the contenders for the chief minister’s post?
Here in Karnataka, we are not yet deliberating on who will be the chief minister. We want the party to come back to power on its own by winning at least 130 to 140 seats (of the state’s total 224).
On our preparations for the elections, we are in the field and our campaign is to expose the BJP government here. Development has taken a backseat and corruption is rampant. It’s a ‘PayCM’ and ‘40 per cent commission’ government.
We are now traveling to each constituency in two teams — one led by the PCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) president (D.K. Shivakumar) and one by the CLP (Congress Legislative Party) leader (Siddaramaiah). I am part of the CLP leader’s team in North Karnataka.
The people are understanding the BJP government’s failure. There has been no development. Between 2013 and 2018, we built 15 lakh houses for the poor. In the past four years of the BJP government, not a single house has been built by them, not in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s constituency or (former CM) B.S. Yediyurappa’s. So, we have a very good chance in Karnataka. When the Siddaramaiah government was in power, there were no allegations of corruption.
We brought in so many schemes for the poor — Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya — and of the 165 promises (made in the 2013 manifesto), we fulfilled 158. Yediyurappa made 600 promises in his 2018 election campaign, of which only 50 have been fulfilled. Moreover, Bommai has spent only 56 per cent of the budgetary allocation (of Budget 2022-23) and 212 budget promises remain merely on paper.
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The BJP’s political strategy in Karnataka has always hinged on Lingayats. Probably because of Yediyurappa, who actually made the BJP what it is today in the state and maybe because Lingayats got alienated from the Congress after former CM Veerendra Patil was unceremoniously ousted…
Under Veerendra Patil, we had won 176 seats in 1988. Never before (had we won with these numbers) and I don’t think it will happen again. Veerendra Patil had a paralytic stroke (in 1990), so naturally he could not function as CM. His removal was not handled well. It could have been done a little better…but the fact remains that a person who is not well, cannot function as CM. There was also propaganda against the Congress at the time. Thereafter the Lingayat community alienated Congress and moved to Janata Party and then to the BJP.
But why did (the BJP) remove Yediyurappa as CM? He was healthy and is the most popular leader of the Lingayat community. They replaced him with Bommai (also a Lingayat). Their original plan was not to replace him with Bommai but they understood the backlash. They (BJP) were compelled to make Bommai CM. So, after Yediyurappa’s removal…for example, if a 100 Lingayats had voted for the BJP earlier, we have a chance to get 40-50 votes.
You asked why Yediyurappa was dropped, but why did Rajiv Gandhi drop Veerendra Patil? His removal is what alienated the Lingayats…
Rajiv Gandhi was never at fault. Of course, he announced (Patil’s removal) at the airport. It was Jaffer Sharief ji who advised him. As a senior leader in the state, he told Gandhi that a state cannot function with a CM in (Patil’s) condition and (Gandhi) had to announce (Patil’s) removal.
What has the Congress done since then to bring Lingayats back into its fold? We get a sense the party has given up on them…
The Congress has understood the importance of Lingayats. Now, the party is totally convinced that Lingayats will vote for us and we should give them due representation.
They (Congress) have made me, a Lingayat, a Campaign Committee chairman, so now, during ticket distribution, Lingayats will be considered wherever their presence is strong.
We also placed some facts and figures in front of them (the Lingayat community). In south Karnataka and Bengaluru city, there’s either no representation for Lingayats or is very meagre. Bengaluru city does not have even one (Congress) Lingayat MLA.
We have to give tickets to two Lingayats here (Bengaluru). We have to give tickets in Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, in Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Hassan and Chikmagalur, and I’m hopeful that the party understands this. So, it has begun — the process of getting Lingayats back.
For our readers outside Karnataka, can you tell us who Lingayats are and why they are an important community in the state?
When you go to Uttar Pradesh, you have Brahmins and Thakurs…they are the major community. Lingayat population in the state is around 17 per cent officially. Some estimates put it at 22 per cent and say it is the largest group.
Lingayats come from Lord Basaveshwara (or Basavanna), a social reformer in the 12th century. The world’s first parliament, the anubhava mantapa, was created under him and included representatives from every oppressed community. This made Lingayats very very important because we took everybody along. Lingayat is a casteless religion and there’s no difference between a woman and a man. We’re all equals.
And do Lingayats identify themselves as falling under the umbrella of Hinduism?
Lingayatism is a sort of a rebellion against Hinduism which has the caste system. We don’t believe in Chaturvarna. In the anubhava mantapa, people from all religions had representatives, including groups like carpenters, prostitutes, fishermen and Dalits. Basavanna and others communicated the vachanas in Kannada (instead of Sanskrit) to reach the masses. Anybody can become a Lingayat if they accept it and have an ista linga (a symbolic representation of a formless god).
And that’s how Rahul Gandhi became one?
Yes, and you can too. It is the most simple way of life. The ills of Hinduism — caste system, superstitions, inequalities — were done away with in Lingayatism. Another salient feature of the religion is that we work, we eat and we feed the hungry — Kayaka (work) and Dasoha (feeding the poor/hungry) are part of Lingayatism.
Because of the Lingayats’ 17 per cent strength in Karnataka, you become politically very important. So how is it that after Veerendra Patil, the Congress never tried to project a Lingayat face?
Whatever has happened is in the past. The Lingayats should have been given due representation. If we Lingayats were as powerful as we are today, it may not have happened the way it did. It’s not that there was no representation for Lingayats in the Congress. Tickets were given to them, many were made ministers and there were at least two Lingayat PCC presidents — Allum Veerabhadrappa and Koujalagi. But more work is required.
We have a very good chance after Yediyurappa’s removal. He was a tall leader but after him there is a vacuum. Bommai is also a Lingayat but his stature isn’t like Yediyurappa’s. So, this time with proper ticket distribution among Lingayats, we can gain the confidence of the community and get more seats.
But will the Congress never have a Lingayat chief minister face?
Who says so? See, the Congress has a system for which we need a majority on our own — 130-140 seats — then the CLP will meet and MLAs will give their opinion. After this the party high command and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will take a decision on who will be the CM. We will not announce our CM candidate now, but there are many potential candidates — Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar, Dr. G Parameshwara, me, Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda…
But Not Mallikarjun Kharge?
He is now AICC President and cannot technically (be a CM candidate). He is much above a CM. He is an elderly man and has a lot of experience that will bring strength to the party.
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In 2018, you attempted to give Lingayats a separate religious minority status which, at the time, was perceived as the reason why Congress lost power. Is that sword still hanging over you?
No, that is the past. And it was not just because of the religious status.
We wanted to give justice to all sub-communities (sub-sects). See what has happened now with the Panchamasali Lingayat agitation. The sub-sect is asking for reservation, like for Jains and Sikhs. The entire Lingayat religion would have got minority status and reservation in medical and engineering seats. We would have had representation (reservation) in both KPSC (Karnataka Public Service Commission) and UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). The issue (of minority religion status) was misunderstood at the time and it was very close to elections…. The BJP, RSS and others used it against us.
Now Lingayats have understood (our point) as all sub-sects are now divided with the Panchamasali demanding reservation only for themselves.
So, how will you solve this issue?
I don’t want to talk about it as it is nearing elections and it will be given some (political) colour. After elections, all the (Lingayat) factions will be brought together and we’ll see what can be done to help all the sub-communities and keep them united.
So other than the issuing of tickets, is there any other way you’re reaching out to this community?
The community at large has seen how the BJP removed Yediyurappa and tried to replace him with a non-Lingayat. But after backlash from the community, they dropped the idea and were forced to make Bommai CM. If the BJP wanted to just replace one Lingayat with another Lingayat, there was no question of removing Yediyurappa. Now, the community knows BJP will not come to power as they won’t get more than 60-70 seats. But even if the BJP, hypothetically speaking, comes to power in 2023, it will not make a Lingayat a CM and the community knows it.
So, you think they’ll move towards the Congress?
Yes, definitely.
What are the signs pointing towards that?
Wherever we go to campaign, the Lingayats are coming out to support the Congress. There are (other) reasons, of course — the BJP’s misrule, corruption, lack of development. The BJP has spoiled the state’s image.
Moving away from the Lingayat issue, are the challenges for the Congress party coming more from within than outside, especially with the fighting over who will be the next CM?
There is no fighting within the Congress. If Siddaramaiah or D.K. Shivakumar want to become CM, it is only after due process is followed that the high command will decide on this. Nobody can take chief-ministership for granted, including myself.
Between 2018 and now, what do you see as major differences and what are you doing differently this time?
In 2018, we had a very good government in place but people did not realise that then. Now they have. You saw Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday celebration in Davanagere. 20 lakh people (participated). Was it (the birthday) not there in 2018? The people have realised the difference between the Siddaramaiah government and the present Bommai government.
But what is the biggest challenge you’re facing here in the next three months? Where do you think you need to improve?
See, if we continue on the same level, it will be enough. We should not make any mistakes or any controversial statements. And the most important thing is the distribution of tickets.
The right distribution of tickets will take us to 130-40 seats and that is being decided in the party openly. If we get this right, people who are ready to vote for us, will.
PM Modi has visited Karnataka several times in the past two months. He is the BJP’s face. So how much impact will the Modi phenomenon have here?
Modi’s magic will not work here. What has the central government done? Achhe din kahan aaye (where are the acche din)? Prices of petrol, diesel, gas, cooking oil, steel, cement have gone up…. There is GST on notebooks and pencils. People are bearing the brunt.
These people (BJP) created issues on hijab, halal, azaan and people are fed up. Now if they want to do any polarisation, they’ll be thrown out.
There is unemployment, where are the two crore jobs per year as promised? Pakoda bechne ke liye bheja aapne (you sent them to sell fritters). What can Modi say? Him coming frequently shows that the state government is bankrupt and has nothing to say. They are all dependent on Modi and Shah and believe that they will do some magic but nothing can be done.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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