Over 200 seers from the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community congregated in the city on Saturday and mounted pressure on the government for their inclusion under the central OBC list.
Under the central OBC list, Veerashaiva-Lingayats will get a share in 27% reservation in jobs and educational institutions.
Among the attendees was Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's aide B S Paramashivaiah, the chairperson of the recently formed Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation. He joined the seers in threatening to intensify the agitation if the Centre failed to respond to their demand.
The show of strength came at a time when the Panchamasali community (a numerically strong sub-sect) is seeking Category 2A reservation in Karnataka.
Dingaleshwara Swami warned the BJP that it will "not see power anywhere in South India" if their demand was not met.
"Soon after constituting the Veerashaiva-Lingayat corporation, Yediyurappa took up the issue of seeking OBC status to the community, in the Cabinet meeting. However, he was not able to take it forward. We hear that the Centre is behind him taking a step back. If this is true, the BJP will not see power anywhere in South India. You used the community's name and came to power here. What is your contribution to the community," he asked.
Paramashivaiah said there are 106 sub-sects among the Veerashaiva-Lingayats. "The Centre has given OBC status only for 30 sub-sects. If the Centre doesn't respond to our demand, we will further intensify our struggle," he said.
Saturday's congregation of seers was seen as a counter to the Panchamasalis' agitation. The Yediyurappa camp will look to keep his support base intact by uniting the community for the central OBC status demand. Acceding to the Panchamasalis's demand for Category 2A could split the Veerashaiva-Lingayats, a disadvantage to the BJP.
Also, the Yediyurappa camp will hope that this will solidify his hold over the community even as a section of Panchamasalis are attacking him.
Srisaila Jagadguru Channasiddarama Panditaradhya, however, denied this. "Our demand is not a counter to the Panchamasalis. It is complementary to it. This is a long-pending demand. Sub-sects of Veerashaiva-Lingayats from other states such as Kerala, Goa and Andhra Pradesh are under the central OBC list, which isn't the case in Karnataka," he said.