Caste census report: All Karnataka Lingayat ministers are united on it, says Patil

Vijayapura (Karnataka), April 19 (IANS) Minister for Large and Medium Industries, M.B. Patil, stated on Saturday that all seven Cabinet ministers from the Lingayat community are united on the issue of the caste census report. 

Speaking to reporters in Vijayapura, Minister Patil said, “All seven ministers from the Lingayat community — Eshwar Khandre, Sharan Prakash Patil, Laxmi Hebbalkar, Sharanbasappa Darshanapur, Shivanand Patil, H.K. Patil, and myself — met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, held discussions, and then attended the special Cabinet meeting on April 17 to deliberate on the caste census report.”

“We will meet the Chief Minister again and place our demands before him regarding the caste census. There is no difference among us. We are united,” he asserted.

When asked about reported arguments between him and Ministers Shivanand Patil and Eshwar Khandre, he responded, “Let me clarify — we all met before the special Cabinet meeting and discussed the census report, raised our concerns, and spoke about the way forward. We are united. The discussion is being blown out of proportion.”

Minister Patil further remarked that it was merely a small disagreement.

He said Minister Shivanand Patil had pointed out that the Congress party had suffered a setback when it earlier proposed a separate religion for Lingayats.

However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah quickly intervened and clarified that it was not the case. “The CM said if that had been the case, how could I have won with such a big margin?” Patil said.

“The CM mentioned I was elected with a margin of 30,000 votes,” he said.

“You (media) are aware that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and several prominent seers campaigned against me in my constituency. Despite that, I won,” he claimed.

Minister Eshwar Khandre commented that the issue indeed caused a setback for the party. “I asked why another leader from our community, who had opposed the proposal for a separate Lingayat religion and participated in protests, ended up losing. The matter ended there. It was just a 60 second spark,” he added.

Reacting to State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra’s criticism of the caste census, Minister Patil said that when Vijayendra's father, B.S. Yediyurappa, was Chief Minister, some sub-castes were included in Category 3B and then removed within a month. “We know their history,” he remarked.

In response to Vijayendra’s comment that the caste census report would not be implemented even after four years, Minister Patil said, “Vijayendra is not the high command of the Congress party. Ask MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal — he will tell you more about Vijayendra.”

MLA Yatnal was expelled from the BJP for repeatedly speaking out against Vijayendra.

When asked about former Chief Minister and BJP MLA Jagadish Shettar’s remark that the Congress government would fall in November, Minister Patil questioned Shettar’s political standing.

“What is his situation now? He couldn’t even secure a ticket for the Assembly election as a former Chief Minister in the BJP party. We welcomed him into our party, gave him a ticket to contest, and after his defeat, we made him an MLC. Then he returned to the BJP,” Patil stated.

Commenting on the sacred thread removal controversy, he said, “Whoever was responsible for not allowing students to wear the sacred thread to exams acted on personal bias. We strongly condemn this. Strict action will be taken against the individual. No particular religion or community should be targeted — it is a serious mistake. Along with action against the staffer, I urge the concerned minister to rectify the injustice done to the student.”