Karnataka Assembly Polls: Lingayat forum lends support to Congress amid Yediyurappa’s state tour

Karnataka Assembly Polls: Having left a few days for the state Assembly Polls, Karnataka Veerashaiva Lingayat forum announced its support for the Congress party. Meanwhile, the forum vouched for the grand-old party, urging people to vote for Congress.

It has issued an official letter extending its support to Congress in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections on May 10 in a single phase. The result will be announced on May 13.

BJP veteran leader BS Yediyurappa who is a Lingayat strongman, pledged to bring Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back in power with 130 seats in the election. For which, he started his state tour to interact with public to tell them the development done by the BJP in the state.

The BJP loyalist had announced his retirement from electoral politics last year, which left his supporters unhappy. However, his son BY Vijayendra is making his electoral debut from the Shikaripur seat, which Yediyurappa held eight times.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa has predicted absolute win for the BJP several times. Currently, the Congress is facing backlash over its promise to ban Bajrang Dal if it comes to power in the state. Meanwhile, the BJP leader Yediyurappa stated that it would benefit BJP only, reported the News18.

Crucial For Congress

The announcement appears to be crucial at a time when Congress is looking to utilise the anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime in the state, considering that the Lingayat community is believed to have more population there.

It should be noted that recently, a number of Lingayat leaders marched out of the saffron party over the dissatisfaction on ticket distribution, leaving the party in shock.

Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi: The Lingayat Leaders 

One such leader is former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shetter and another is ex-Deputy CM Laman Savadi who quit BJP and joined Congress after being denied ticket from their preferred constituencies.

Shettar left the saffron party after the top leadership adviced him to take his name off the list to contest Vidhan Sabha elections from Hubbali seat to welcome new candidates.

Meanwhile, Laxman Savadi could not get the ticket from Athani seat in Belagvai as it was given to sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who defected to BJP and helped to take down the Congress-JD(S) coalition.

After which, the party formed its government under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa in 2019.

The post Karnataka Assembly Polls: Lingayat forum lends support to Congress amid Yediyurappa’s state tour appeared first on News24 English.