Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Oct 21: Chairman of coalition government's coordination committee and former Karnataka chief minister, Siddaramaiah, stated that he does not have remorse on the decision of his cabinet to recommend minority religion status to Lingayat. At the same time, he outright sought to reject the notion expressed by his former cabinet colleague, D K Shivakumar that the said decision proved costly for the Congress in the last assembly election.

Siddaramaiah felt that the state cabinet's unanimous decision to award minority religion status to Lingayat has nothing to do with the assembly election result. Shivakumar had termed the said decision as a folly which cost the party during the assembly election, and had apologised for the same.

It may be recalled that the government had formed a committee headed by Justice Nagamohandas to examine the claim made by Lingayat community for the separate religion tag, asked the committee to hurry through the report, and then recommended to the centre to meet the demand of the community. All this was done a few weeks ahead of the assembly election. Many had questioned the move and expressed the opinion that it was done to wean away Lingayat votes which it was felt, went largely in favour of the BJP.

Siddaramaiah said that every member of the cabinet including Shivakumar had supported the move then. By saying this, he seemed to dismiss the statement of Shivakumar that all cabinet members were not in favour of the proposal. He also said that discussing the issue now will also affect the outcome of the coming bypoll.

While Shivakumar and some others seem to feel that the said decision worked against their party's interests, Lingayat leaders like M B Patil have pointed out that Congress party had fared badly in coastal Karnataka and other belts where Lingayat community is not dominant. When Siddaramaiah was asked about his take on Shivakumar's advice that politicians should not dabble in religion, he remarked that his party and its leaders have never indulged in religious affairs nor will they do so in future. To a question whether Shivakumar was targeting him, Siddaramaiah said he had done nothing wrong and hence he can never be a target for someone.