<p class="title">Lingayat spiritual leader Mathe Mahadevi on Wednesday advised disgruntled Congress leader M B Patil to quit the party since he was not given a Cabinet berth.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Never have I made political statements, but today, I must say that M B Patil was at the forefront of the Lingayat religion movement. Him being denied a Cabinet position because of that is an insult to the entire community,” Mahadevi told a press conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She hailed Patil for being an “able administrator” in his role as water resources minister. “Even Satish Jarkiholi was good. Both of them have been insulted by not making them ministers,” she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ahead of the recent Assembly elections, Mathe Mahadevi had backed the Congress after the Siddaramaiah government had proposed to the Centre for granting separate religion status for the Lingayat community. The 9th edition of the Basava Utsav will be held at Basava Gangotri in Kumbalgodu on the outskirts of Bengaluru on June 17, with representatives from various districts in the state as well as from Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh slated to participate, she said.</p>
<p class="title">Lingayat spiritual leader Mathe Mahadevi on Wednesday advised disgruntled Congress leader M B Patil to quit the party since he was not given a Cabinet berth.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Never have I made political statements, but today, I must say that M B Patil was at the forefront of the Lingayat religion movement. Him being denied a Cabinet position because of that is an insult to the entire community,” Mahadevi told a press conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She hailed Patil for being an “able administrator” in his role as water resources minister. “Even Satish Jarkiholi was good. Both of them have been insulted by not making them ministers,” she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ahead of the recent Assembly elections, Mathe Mahadevi had backed the Congress after the Siddaramaiah government had proposed to the Centre for granting separate religion status for the Lingayat community. The 9th edition of the Basava Utsav will be held at Basava Gangotri in Kumbalgodu on the outskirts of Bengaluru on June 17, with representatives from various districts in the state as well as from Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh slated to participate, she said.</p>