BENGALURU: Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami, pontiff of Kudala Sangama Mutt, on Thursday, threatened to campaign against BJP in the upcoming assembly elections ifthe government did not fulfil the demand of according 2A reservation for Panchamasali Lingayats.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, the seer, who has been spearheading a relentless fight for higher reservation for the Panchamasali community, accused chief minister Basavaraj Bommai of “betraying” the Panchamasali people by adopting delaying tactics. He also ruled out any more talks with the CM.
“There is nothing more to talk about,” the seer said. “The government must fulfil our demand. We will wait till the election schedule is announced. If our demand isnot met by then, we will campaign against BJP. ”
He said he will tour all 224assembly segments and tell voters of the people who had refused to give Panchamasalis higher reservation.
Panchamasalis constitute a major chunk among Lingayats, who have been a loyal vote bank for the saffron party. Under immense pressure, the government last month decided to categorise Vokkaligas and Lingayats as moderately backward under new categories — 2C and 2D respectively — and decided to provide them higher quan-tum of reservation by dipping into the 10% quota the Centre announced for the economically weaker section from the general category.
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